The media is filled with brand lists, most of them which are based on research which estimates the value of a given brand. It is hard to connect these valuations to the sales and profits of the companies which own them.

Marlboro is one of the most valuable brands in the world–worth perhaps $50 billion. Does it bring in that much money for its parent companies Altria (NYSE: MO) and Philip Morris (NYSE: PM)? The combined revenue of the two companies is more than $80 billion, so the answer is almost certainly affirmative since Marlboro is the best-selling product for both. Marlboro is a 100-year old brand and produces tens of billion of dollars in sales each year. That would argue for the brand value of the cigarette to be higher than $50 billion. But experts sayit is not.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is another brand which is at the top of most brand valuation lists, and is sometimes given a value of $100 billion. Google’s market capitalization is $150 billion, but annual revenue is only $25 billion. Is the brand value based on sales, or the value of the company in the stock market?

A better way to look at brands is the extent to which they contribute to the market value of the company–the figure that shareholders care about.

24/7 Wall St. asked CoreBrand to give us the Top 100 Brand Equity Value ranks for 2nd quarter 2010. The results show that some of the largest companies in America do not get much of their market value from their names. That may be because they are poorly marketed or that most of a large firm’s business is done through sub-brands like “Windows” instead of Microsoft.

Some of the more modest-sized American companies are highly efficient in terms of brand use. Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) ranks No.4 on CoreBrand list. People who buy its motorcycles view the brand as core to the product. Very few people know the names of their individual motorcycle models .Kellogg is high on the list as are Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MC).Who owns a Southwest Air credit card? Perhaps a lot of people, but the brand of the card is Visa.

Below is the list of the top equity brand values based on data from the end of the second quarter.

Company	Brand Equity % of Market Cap Rank	Brand Equity $ Value Rank	Ticker Symbol	Industry
Hershey Company, The	1	95	HSY	Food
Coca-Cola Company, The	2	8	KO	Beverages
Campbell Soup Company	3	86	CPB	Food
Harley-Davidson Inc.	4	115	HOG	Hotel & Entertainment
Kellogg Company	5	67	K	Food
Colgate-Palmolive Company	6	35	CL	Toiletries, Cosmetics
MasterCard Inc.	7	50	MA	Diversified Financial
American Express Company	8	30	AXP	Diversified Financial
Barnes & Noble Inc.	9	252	BKS	Retailers
Visa Inc.	10	27	V	Diversified Financial
FedEx Corporation	11	54	FDX	Transportation
Johnson & Johnson	12	5	JNJ	Medical Supp & Srv
UPS – United Parcel Service Inc.	13	26	UPS	Transportation
Starbucks Corporation	14	69	SBUX	Restaurants
Del Monte Foods Company	15	175	DLM	Food
Wendy’s Arby’s Group Inc.	16	201	WEN	Restaurants
General Mills Inc.	17	61	GIS	Food
Mattel Inc.	18	111	MAT	Hotel & Entertainment
CBS Corporation	19	102	CBS	Hotel & Entertainment
Walt Disney Company, The	20	28	DIS	Hotel & Entertainment
Estée Lauder Companies Inc, The	21	93	EL	Toiletries, Cosmetics
McDonald’s Corporation	22	21	MCD	Restaurants
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.	23	104	BBBY	Retailers
Sony Corporation	24	49	SNE	Electronics, Elect. Eq.
Lowe’s Companies Inc.	25	52	LOW	Retailers
PepsiCo Inc.	26	17	PEP	Beverages
Liz Claiborne Inc.	27	282	LIZ	Apparel, Shoes
Target Corporation	28	40	TGT	Retailers
Honda Motor Company Ltd.	29	31	HMC	Motor Vehicles
Yahoo! Inc.	30	74	YHOO	Internet
Avon Products Inc.	31	91	AVP	Toiletries, Cosmetics
La-Z-Boy Inc.	32	285	LZB	Furniture/Home Furn.
Gap Inc., The	33	98	GPS	Retailers
Sara Lee Corporation	34	107	SLE	Food
Kodak – Eastman Kodak Company	35	233	EK	Precision Instruments
American Greetings Corporation	36	251	AM	Packaging
New York Times Company, The	37	229	NYT	Publishing
Nike Inc.	38	42	NKE	Apparel, Shoes
Home Depot Inc., The	39	34	HD	Retailers
Whirlpool Corporation	40	131	WHR	Industrial Equipment
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.	41	4	WMT	Retailers
GE – General Electric Company	42	6	GE	Diversified Industrials
J. C. Penney Company Inc.	43	134	JCP	Retailers
Microsoft Corporation	44	3	MSFT	Computer Software
Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation	45	114	RL	Apparel, Shoes
Toyota Motor Corporation	46	14	TM	Motor Vehicles
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, The	47	187	GT	Auto Parts
Western Union	48	106	WU	Diversified Financial
Xerox Corporation	49	96	XRX	Office Equipment
Boeing Company, The	50	33	BA	Aerospace/Defense
Sherwin-Williams Company, The	51	122	SHW	Chemicals
AT&T Inc.	52	10	T	Telecomm. Services
Apple Inc.	53	2	AAPL	Computers, Periphs.
Kraft Foods Inc.	54	32	KFT	Food
Charles Schwab Corporation, The	55	81	SCHW	Brokerage
H&R Block Inc.	56	144	HRB	Diversified Financial
Nissan Motor Company Ltd.	57	53	NSANY	Motor Vehicles
IBM – International Business Machines	58	9	IBM	Computers, Periphs.
Dell Inc.	59	62	DELL	Computers, Periphs.
Marriott International Inc.	60	100	MAR	Hotel & Entertainment
Procter & Gamble Company, The	61	7	PG	Toiletries, Cosmetics
FujiFilm Holdings Corporation	62	87	FUJIY	Electronics, Elect. Eq.
Ford Motor Company	63	38	F	Motor Vehicles
Sunoco Inc.	64	160	SUN	Petroleum Refining
Kohl’s Corporation	65	90	KSS	Retailers
Walgreen Company	66	59	WAG	Pharmacy Serv.
Verizon Communications Inc.	67	23	VZ	Telecomm. Services
Allstate Corporation, The	68	88	ALL	Insurance
Motorola Inc.	69	85	MOT	Telecomm. Equip.
DuPont – E. I. du Pont de Nemours	70	48	DD	Chemicals
Google Inc.	71	11	GOOG	Internet
Hormel Foods Corporation	72	140	HRL	Food
Rite Aid Corporation	73	255	RAD	Pharmacy Serv.
Exxon Mobil Corporation	74	1	XOM	Petroleum Refining
Staples Inc.	75	94	SPLS	Office Equipment
eBay Inc.	76	64	EBAY	Internet
Office Depot Inc.	77	238	ODP	Office Equipment
Loews Corporation	78	89	L	Diversified Financial
Pitney Bowes Inc.	79	150	PBI	Office Equipment
Tyson Foods Inc.	80	135	TSN	Food
OfficeMax Inc.	81	237	OMX	Office Equipment
H. J. Heinz Company	82	97	HNZ	Food
DirecTV Group	83	55	DTV	Cable TV
CVS Caremark Corporation	84	44	CVS	Pharmacy Serv.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company	85	43	BMY	Pharmaceuticals
Philip Morris International Inc.	86	22	PM	Tobacco
Papa John’s International Inc.	87	268	PZZA	Restaurants
Capital One Financial Corporation	88	84	COF	Diversified Financial
Delta Air Lines Inc.	89	113	DAL	Transportation
Chevron Corporation	90	13	CVX	Petroleum Refining
Tiffany & Company	91	154	TIF	Retailers
Morgan Stanley	92	46	MS	Brokerage
Sears Holdings	93	127	SHLD	Retailers
Sprint Nextel Corporation	94	101	S	Telecomm. Services
Continental Airlines Inc.	95	178	CAL	Transportation
Foot Locker Inc.	96	217	FL	Retailers
Aetna Inc.	97	109	AET	Medical Supp & Srv
Hewlett-Packard Company	98	18	HPQ	Computers, Periphs.
NASDAQ OMX Group Inc., The	99	169	NDAQ	Brokerage
Canon Inc.	100	36	CAJ	Electronics, Elect. Eq.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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