Despite some struggles, which may have ended with the release of the new iPhone 6, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has the most valuable brand in the world, according to the new Interbrand ranking of the world’s most valuable brands.

Following Apple among the top 10: Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) at $107 billion, Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) at $82 billion, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) at $72 billion, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) at $61 billion, General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) at $45 billion, Samsung at $45 billion, Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) at $42 billion, McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) at $42 billion and Mercedes-Benz at $34 billion. Interestingly, Mercedes’ major competitor — BMW — ranked 11th at $34 billion. The presence of GE, McDonald’s and IBM shows that companies do not need to be successful recently to make the high end of the list.

The value of several brands surged. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) raced higher by 25% to $29 billion, as it moved into new businesses like streaming video and smartphones. However, the company has started to lose money as it expands. Honda Motor Co. Ltd.’s (NYSE: HMC) brand value rose 17% to $22 billion. Facebook Inc.’s (NASDAQ: FB) value rose an extraordinary 86% to $14 billion, and Volkswagen’s was higher by 23% at $14 billion. Facebook’s more than 1.1 billion users continue to grow, as does its revenue and profit. VW has closed in on Toyota and GM as the world’s leading car manufacturer by sales.

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Several major brands lost ground. Louis Vuitton lost 9% of its brand value to $23 billion. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) was down 8% to $24 billion. Management hopes to “fix” the tech company by breaking it in half. And the Gillette division of Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) lost 9% of its brand value, down to $23 billion.

The most badly damaged brands were fading cellphone company Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), down 44% to $4 billion, and Nintendo, down 33% to $4 billion as well.

Methodology:

Having pioneered brand valuation in 1988, we have a deep understanding of the impact of strong brands on the key stakeholder groups that influence the performance of your business, namely (current and prospective) customers, employees, and investors. Strong brands influence customer choice and create loyalty; attract, retain and motivate talent; and lower the cost of financing, and our brand valuation methodology has been specifically designed to take all of these factors into account.

A strategic tool for ongoing brand management, valuation brings together market, brand, competitor, and financial data into a single framework within which the performance of the brand can be assessed, areas for improvement identified, and the financial impact of investing in the brand quantified.

Interbrand was the first company to have its methodology certified as compliant with the requirements of ISO 10668 (requirements for monetary brand valuation) and has played a key role in the development of the standard itself.

There are three key components in all of our valuations: an analysis of the financial performance of the branded products or services, of the role the brand plays in purchase decisions, and of the brand’s competitive strength.

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