Apple Ends Google’s Four-Year Run as Most Valuable Brand

Advertising Age
The strength of the iPad has pushed Apple ahead of Google for the first time as the most valuable brand in the world, according to Millward Brown's 2011 BrandZ study of the most-valuable global brands.

Apple ended a four-year run by Google at the top of the brand ranking. But the study by the WPP research unit also showed a changing of the guard among top brands in other sectors and an influx of new entrants from the so-called BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China—which collectively accounted for seven of the 11 newcomers to top 100 brands. While the eight top global brands are still U.S. based, China now has 12 brands in the top 100, up from seven a year ago.

Remarkably, Amazon edged out Walmart as the most-valuable retail brand by Millward Brown's accounting, with its brand value rising 37% to $37.6 billion as Walmart's fell 5% to $37.3 billion. Walmart parent Wal-Mart Stores still has more than 10 times the sales and more than five times the market capitalization of Amazon. But BrandZ's calculation subtracts tangible assets from market value to help estimate brand value. Amazon, with no physical stores, fares well in that process. The Walmart brand value also doesn't include Sam's Club or other overseas affiliates with different brand names owned by Wal-Mart Stores.

Red Bull Amps Brand With Mag
AdWeek
Somewhere on the way to becoming the leading energy drink, Red Bull also became a worldwide media and marketing force. It sponsors extreme sports like snowboarding, BASE jumping, and mountain climbing. It hosts events and contests, and promotes itself through celebrities and videogames. And on May 10, it’ll add a glossy magazine in the U.S.

The Red Bulletin—which is also published in seven other countries—portrays the world as Red Bull sees it: one where thrill seekers perform crazy feats, fueled by a caffeine-and taurine-filled cocktail in a skinny silver can.

“We’re going to be doing stories that definitely present boundary-breaking approaches to life,” says Andreas Tzortzis, the U.S. editor. The Red Bulletin will be sold at newsstands for $4.99 a copy. To promote awareness, it’ll be inserted in the Sunday editions of the New York Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, and other newspapers.

Branded content has become one of the biggest marketing trends, and at its basic level, The Red Bulletin is about selling more cans of its eponymous energy drink (its tagline: “An almost independent monthly magazine”). To that end, the logo appears in page after page of stories about Red Bull-sponsored sports and in photos of the athletes.

Why Everyone Is Going to Start Paying Consumers To Watch Video Ads
Advertising Age
The strange reality of the online video marketplace is that the demand for quality views far outweighs the supply. Most advertisers prefer to run their video on well-known sites, controlled by a handful of major publishers. Views from these sites are limited, and they are sold by an array of middlemen — ad networks, exchanges, and brokers — at various price points. It's not unlike an airplane, where everyone onboard pays a different price for the same trip.

So what happens when a brand shows up with big bucks and all the good stuff is taken? "Sorry, Mr. Beverage Company, first class is all booked up. We can, however, put you on the red-eye. I've got a seat in coach across from the toilet. Shall I book that for you?"

Not quite.

The reality is, no one's going to walk away from a lucrative advertising deal. This supply-and-demand imbalance has led to a host of less-than-savory solutions, everything from no-name Websites to forced pop-ups, auto-plays, and bogus "microsites" that are embedded in pirate video sites. Many brands that bought first class tickets are riding in coach, whether they know it or not.

Marketers: Use Emotional Need to Draw Eco-Friendly

Media Daily News
A new study casts aside the supposition that younger consumers are more eager to buy environmentally friendly products than older ones. Results show shoppers in the 18-to-34 demo are "slower to embrace" behavior where they would pay more for eco-friendly products than in age groups 35 to 44 and 55 to 64.

Overall, nearly 25% of shoppers will pay more for "something if it makes them feel like they are contributing to saving the environment."

Results come from "The Checkout" study from Omnicom shopper marketing arm the Integer Group, and M/A/R/C Research. The study also determined there is a "higher eco-consciousness" among people 55+ versus younger people. Organic and other eco-friendly products can cost more, and a M/A/R/C Research executive suggested that so-called "green marketers" might need to consider some sort of rewards program -- although not necessarily with a financial base.

Integrate The Online Marketing Experience
Marketing Daily News
Search will remain the core structure, feeding data to all other media. It is the highest-converting medium, but only 2% of the conversions occur from engines. Optimizing and integrating "the experience" will become a focus for online marketing in 2011.
Joshua Palau, vice president of marketing at Comcast, finds it ironic that 86% of consumers skip through commercials, but many of today's television shows talk about advertising. Since very few consumers convert online, how do marketers market to the 98% of consumers who won't click on an online ad? Maybe it's not the click that needs optimization, but rather the metrics behind the media.

"We don't count a conversion until the truck shows up at the house," Palau said. He estimates Comcast loses conversions because it doesn't have the ability to serve customers on mobile. For those companies in a similar situation, he suggests enabling a mobile click-to-call strategy, or something similar, allowing marketers to optimize conversions.

Marketers should not allow an inability to measure everything to stop them from capitalizing on the experience. How do they connect with consumers and gain an integrated view of the market? Olivier Lemaignen, director of head of consumer marketing, Invisalign, says it's easy if the company has an integrated marketing strategy backed by data.

Fortune Brands 1Q Net Up 12% On Stong Spirit Sales
Wall Street Journal
Fortune Brands Inc.'s (FO) first-quarter earnings rose 12% as strong sales, especially in the spirits unit, offset higher input costs and continued brand investment.

Earnings beat analyst expectations, but commentary on higher freight and raw material prices and potential pressure in the second quarter helped push shares down 1.9% to $63.43 in recent trading.

Fortune Brands, whose products include Jim Beam whiskey, Moen faucets and Titleist golf balls, has benefited from an improving economy as consumers resume higher levels of discretionary spending. With prodding from investor William Ackman, the conglomerate announced late last year it would become a pure-play liquor company and is pursuing a tax-free spinoff of its home and security business and a sale or spinoff of its golf unit.

Chairman and Chief Executive Bruce Carbonari said in a conference call that there has been "very active" interest in the Acushnet golf business. On Friday, Fortune will file a Form 10 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to begin the securities registration process for its home and security business. The company expects to complete break-up early in the fourth quarter, and the new core company will ultimately be named Beam Inc.

Fortune Brands reported a profit of $81.2 million, or 52 cents a share, up from $72.2 million, or 47 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items such as business separation and restructuring costs, earnings rose to 59 cents a share from 49 cents a share.

Sales jumped 8.1% to $1.76 billion. Excluding excise tax, revenue rose to $1.61 billion.