2008-03-31 05:18:45
By Rachel SandersonSun Mar 30, 9:20 PM ET
The Apple (AAPL.O) brand has the biggest impact on the world's consumers, while
Microsoft (MSFT.O) and the United States nation brand are those considered most
in need of a remake, a survey showed on Monday.
The poll by online magazine brandchannel.com asked its readers to identify the
brands with the greatest impact on their lives, and say how they affected
readers' behaviour and their view of the world.
The nearly 2,000 professionals and students who voted named Apple overwhelming
winner. The creator of the iPod and Mac computer triumphed in six categories
including most inspiring brand and the one readers cannot live without.
Microsoft, the world's largest software maker was also a winner, but it
received the dubious honor of the brand most readers wanted to argue with, and
the one they most wanted to revamp. Voted into second place in the category was
brand USA.
"Apple has clearly captured the hearts and minds by leading across most
categories. Others, such as the USA nation brand, which ranks highly as most in
need of a rebrand, requires help according to our readers," said brandchannel
editor Jim Thompson.
The poll does not take account of economic brand value, the murky science of
assigning a financial value to brand, which regularly puts Coca-Cola Co's
(KO.N) Coke in first place.
One of the more surprising results from the survey, was that few of the
respondents -- who came from 107 countries -- thought that there was such a
thing as a "green" brand.
The result comes despite millions of dollars spent by some of the world's
biggest companies to rebrand themselves as "environmentally-friendly."
Discussing Apple, one anonymous reader said there was "never a dull moment"
with the company "reinventing itself all along and providing, over and over
again, a new perspective on what we thought was carved in stone."
At the other end of the spectrum, Microsoft had "gone from innovative and bold
to stodgy and follower," said another unnamed reader.
After Apple, the most inspiring brands were Nike (NKE.N), Coca-Cola, Google
(GOOG.O) and Starbucks (SBUX.O), the survey showed.
The same brands, except with Virgin in place of Starbucks, were the brands most
readers would "like to sit next to at a dinner party."
The rankings by brandchannel.com were based on answers from almost 2,000
readers from 107 countries. The survey was conducted online from February 24 to
March 9.