Story of the 2000-2010 Decade Told By Brand Values

The turbulent decade that is about to end can best be seen in the values and ranking of brands through the 10 year period.  While most brands continue to hold their rankings in the annual Business Week/Interbrand annual ratings, there have been some notable exceptions and these newcomers and departers tell the story of the decade.

The Perennials

The “perennials” are those brands that have held their own consistently through the decade.  Starting with Coca-Cola, the undisputed undefeated king of brands, this brand easily holds on to its No. 1 ranking.

Other Top 10 brands that have held their own throughout the decade include: IBM, Micosoft, GE, Intel, McDonald’s, Disney and Nokia.

The High-Tech Roller Coaster

Google sits at No. 4 in the 2010 rankings.  In 2000, Google had not even cracked the Top 100.  Yahoo, on the other hand, has maintained its place over the decade dispute all the turbulence.  It ranked 59^th in 2000 64^th in 2010.  Amazon, another creation of the dot.com era ranked 76^th in 2000 and now ranks at 36^th. Ebay was not among the Top 100 in 2009 but sits at 43^rd in 2010.  AOL, a major high-tech player in 2000, with a ranking of 58^th has disappeared from the Top 100.

The Extinct Brands

Perhaps the decade’s most battered brands is AT&T. A major marketplace force in 2000 with a rating of 10, AT&T has virtually disappeared from the landscape.  The company virtually disappeared early in the decade but the brand name was resurrected by SBC only because AT&T carries more magic than SBC.  However, in the Business Week/Interbrand rankings for 2010, AT&T is not among the top 100 perhaps because it is simply a shell brand.  The unpopularity of tobacco has had an impact on one of America’s megabrands, Marlboro. Ranked 11^th in 2000, this brand has completely disappeared from the Top 100. Merrill Lynch, which went under during the recent recession, was ranked at 19 in 2000 and is unranked today.

The Troubled Brands

Major unpleasantness has had its effect on a number of brands.  BP, for example, was ranked 74^th in 2000, but was unranked in 2010.  Citibank was 13^th in 2000 but has fallen to 40^th in 2010.  However, Toyota, which went through the trauma of a major recall, actually saw its brand rating increase – from 14^th in 2000 to 11^th in 2010.  On the other hand, Ford, has fallen from 8^th in 2000 to 50^th in 2010, even though it is the one U.S. auto company that did not have to be bailed out by the U.S. government.  (Since GM and Chrysler brands are not listed in the Interbrand scorecard, Ford apparently has taken the brunt of the hit on Detroit’s reputation.)

Major Newcomers

The decade of 2000 to 2010 has seen the emergence of a whole group of new brands such as: Gucci, unranked in 2000 but ranked 44^th in 2010; Zara, unranked in 2000 but ranked 48^th in 2010 , and Hyundai, unranked in 2000 but ranked 65^th in 2010.