BEST GLOBAL BRANDS 200100 / 21
33 11,485 $m
+ 10%
CANON Since 1933, Canon has maintained its leading position in the global camera market and expanded into imaging solutions with its focus on creating unique technology. The brand has focused on reinforcing its corporate citizenship initiative with an environmental vision centered around its philosophy of "achieving growth and development, while contributing to the prosperity of the world and the happiness of humankind." In the U.S., Canon sponsored a wide range of sports organizations, events and programs, including the Professional Golf
34 11,356 $m
- 5%
SONY
9,665 $m
35 11,041 $m
+ 6%
KELLOGG’S
Sony, the premier provider of networked consumer electronics and entertainment, is becoming increasingly efficient, agile and innovative – although it still faces steep competition from Samsung. The business has been negatively impacted by the appreciation of the yen and the recession’s impact on customers’ purchase patterns, but Sony continues to differentiate itself from other consumer electronic companies through functional value and outstanding design. In September 2009 Sony launched the brand message “Make.Believe,” which aims at uniting Sony’s communication efforts across its diverse product portfolio. The intent is to provide a single face for the brand and convey Sony's role to the world. Sony also showed its corporate commitment to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by seven percent in 2010. This year it introduced energy-efficient products such as the BRAVIA V5; it claims that the power consumption of the 40- and 46-inch models are the lowest in the market.
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Association (PGA), National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB) and U.S. Open Tennis. As Canon’s social media presence proves, its fans are loyal – it has a huge following on Twitter, blogs and Flickr group pages, which appear to be generated entirely by brand loyalists, rather than the company itself. Although its brand is loved around the globe, it suffers from a fragmented and inconsistent worldwide product portfolio and brand strategy that likely cause inefficiencies in the brand and business management.
Kellogg’s is arguably the best-known brand in breakfast products. It is clearly committed to brand, as it is one of the top 50 advertising spenders, according to Advertising Age. However, with the continued economic pressure and resulting dip in sales last year, there is evidence that some consumers may be trading down – making price more relevant than brand in the categories in which Kellogg’s competes. The Kellogg’s tone of voice can be a bit whimsical at times as it targets most of its advertising toward young families. Despite this, it does not lose track of the desire to push the nutritional aspects of its products. Kellogg’s is using social media to raise awareness of the growing hunger epidemic in the U.S. and elsewhere through a partnership with Katalyst, Ashton Kutcher’s social media studio. Kellogg’s succeeds in raising money through Facebook for organizations like Feeding America, and other campaigns as well.
+ 23%
AMAZON.COM It was a great year for Amazon.com. Although it saw new Kindle competitors this year, it still retains roughly 90 percent of the e-book market. Similarly, it continued to benefit from the recession, as customers continued to bargain shop online. Still, despite significant growth, the brand is likely to experience challenges in the years to come. Its Kindle faces growing competition and which is lowering
Amazon.com’s bargaining power (as evident in the latest agreement between Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins on the pricing of electronic books). Surprisingly enough, the leading online retailer has a minimal social media presence and virtually no corporate citizenship practice.