Strong Brands And Big Walls

Michael Hedges March 23, 2011 Follow on Twitter

Having a strong brand is good for business. The attributes are nurtured among the wise. Sometimes big brands smack into big walls.

Google’s place among brands of the world topped yet another chart. UK consultancy Brand Finance ranked (March 21) the search engine company number one with a brand value of £27.3 billion US$44.3 billion. Tipping to the terms of stock rating agencies, Brand Finance rated Google AAA+, citing dominance in the search engine sector plus its brand building not-for-profit ventures.

The Microsoft brand was also rated AAA+, ranked number two, valued at £26.1 billion US$42.8 billion. Unsurprisingly, tech and telecom brands are rising. US-based retailer WalMart dropped from the 2010 top spot to number three. Apple rose from 20th ranking to 8th. Facebook entered the list at number 285. Its brand value is estimated at £2.2 billion US$3.7 billion, far different than the 100 billion IPO watchers foresee.

Of all the brand ranking consultancies Interbrand is the best known. It’s most recent survey ranked Coca-Cola number one in the world, followed in order by IBM, Microsoft, Google and GE.

Being number one in any brand or financial ranking means grousing competitors and regulators work overtime looking for ways of taking you down a peg. French regulators fined Google €100,000 (March 21) for violating data protection rules with Google Street View. The French data protection agency wanted source code, which Google refuses to hand over. Coincidentally – or ironically - the Berlin State Supreme Court ruled (March 15) that Google Street View does not infringe on property rights, reported Deutsche Welle.

In a recently released (March 16) survey by Hong Kong consultancy Clear Asia, Google ranked the “most desired” brand among Chinese consumers, followed by Apple and, aspirationally, BMW. Google and Chinese authorities continue to go back and forth on who is, exactly, in charge, at fault or to blame. Google moved its Chinese-language search servers from mainland China to Hong Kong last year citing hacker attacks and suggesting Chinese authorities involvement.

A disruption of Google’s email server Gmail in China is the latest tete-a-tete. Google blamed (March 21) Chinese authorities for bugging and snooping. Some Gmail users in China have problems logging in or downloading messages. “There is no technical issue on our side,” said Google statement reported by AFP (March 22). “This is a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail.” Chinese authorities called the accusations (March 22) “unacceptable.”

Many, many, many multinational companies have sought a foothold in the growing Chinese market. The welcome mat is often laid on quicksand. Chinese authorities are clearly interested in technology transfer – one-way only – but resistant to information flow. Recent reports tell of authorities scrambling to “plug the Great Firewall.” Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube (owned by Google) are regularly blocked. Even regular telephone calls become scrambled when certain words like ‘protest’ are used.

Business-oriented social networking portal LinkedIn, updating its initial public offering (IPO) prospectus, said “the value of our network could be negatively impacted” by Chinese censors. “The government of the People's Republic of China recently blocked access to our site in China for a short period of time,” said the new filing, reported by Information Week (March 15). “We cannot assure you that the Chinese government will not block access to one or more of our features and products or our entire site in China for a longer period of time or permanently.”

Western government, with varied interests, regularly complain about Chinese censorship, internet and otherwise. The BBC World Service Trust has found its services disrupted in China and countries with lesser technical expertise. It’s looking for a solution and, austerity being the watchword of the UK government, is “developing a (funding) proposal to enable audiences across the world to access and engage with digital platforms safely whilst being informed of the risks and opportunities involved,” said a Trust statement (March 21). Potential funders may include the US Department of State.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Google Is...

Google's leaders say their goal is to change the world. And they have. Far more than a search engine, Google has impact over every media sector and beyond, from consumer behavior to broadcasting and advertising to newspapers. That impact is detailed in this ftm Knowledge file. 63 pages PDF (February 2010)

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