You might have thought all the punishment Apple has taken on Wall Street would show up in how consumers view the company’s brand – and you’d be wrong. A new survey again ranks Apple as the most valuable brand, easily outdistancing its arch rival Google. Indeed, Apple is still seen as the ‘gold standard’ when it comes to brands, according to market research firm Millward Brown…
Indicating a company is more than its current financial report, a popular brand “lasts a lot longer, is more robust and doesn’t tend to slip as much,” Peter Walshe, director of Millward Brown’s BrandZ, told Marketing Week.
Indeed, the $71.4 billion difference in brand value between Apple and No. 2 Google is almost equal to Coca-Cola’s estimated brand value of $78.4 billion.
Apple’s leading spot in the brand survey is far ahead of Google: $185 billion compared to $113.7 billion.
“Add Apple’s cash hoard of $150 billion, you get pretty much to the company’s current market capitalization – before factoring in anything else, like its product pipeline,” notes 9to5Mac.
Interestingly enough, the ailing Internet giant Yahoo is now back on list at No. 92 after dropping off the BrandZ Top 100 ranking several years ago.
But not all consumer surveys find Apple’s reputation remains unblemished, however. Although Apple’s iPhone continues to lead cell phone customer satisfaction, its 2013 rating dipped slightly from the previous year.
According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Apple scored 81 out of 100 points. However, the report found Apple’s customer satisfaction rating dropped two percent from 2012, when the smartphone maker score 83 points.
Customer satisfaction of the iPhone is also behind Apple’s laptop, desktop and iPad tablet.
While Motorola remained in the No. 2 spot, the cell phone maker rose five percent to 77 from 73.
Nokia ranked No. 3, increasing to 76 points, a single percentage point jump over the previous year’s 75, the survey found. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics showed the best improvement, posting a seven-point gain in consumer satisfaction rating of 76, up from 71 points in 2012.
Samsung’s improvement is the largest yet for any cell phone manufacturer, and earns Samsung a position even with the industry average and Nokia (+1%) and just behind second place Motorola, up 5% to 77.
Nevertheless, Samsung remains well behind industry leader Apple.
Samsung’s rise in customer satisfaction comes as Consumer Reports named the Galaxy its best-rated smartphone.
The index also reported BlackBerry’s level of consumer satisfaction remained flat at 69 points. LG and HTC both posted negative changes in their ratings over 2012.
So, despite having been tarnished over Mapgate, warranty issues in China and other issues, the Apple brand continues to shine unabated.