After IKEA estimated and sold its trademark at $9 billion Euros (US$11 billion), The Wall Street Journal decided to find out the worth of some of the world’s most popular brands.
For the infographic entitled ‘What’s a Brand’s Worth?’, created by Alberto Cervantes, The Wall Street Journal looked to research firms to find out the worth of companies, such as Apple, IKEA, McDonald’s and Nike.
According to research firm Millward Brown the most valuable brand in the world is Apple Inc., with a worth of US$183 billion.
However, Interbrand judges Apple’s brand worth to be only US$33.5 billion—and that Coca-Cola Co. and McDonald’s are worth more at US$71.9 billion and US$35.6 billion respectively.
The firms disagreed less on the value of IKEA and Nike—Interbrand valued IKEA at US$11.9 billion and Nike at US$14.5 billion, while Millward Brown valued IKEA at US$9.2 billion and Nike at US$16.3 billion.
Which is more accurate? That depends on the branding firm. Different firms use different methods are used to come up with values of the companies.
Allen Adamson, a managing director of a branding firm owned by WPP, Landor Associates, told The Wall Street Journal that the value of brand is both art and science.
He said: “It’s simple in theory but hard to pin down in reality. It’s really about how much would a consumer pay for a caramel-colored soda versus how much they would pay for a Coke.”
