The Phone Books are Here! The Phone Books are Here!

A must-read for branding geeks and skeptics alike, Business Week's annual look at the Top 100 global brands is now available. As always, the article looks at which brands have gained and lost the most monetary value over the past year.

B to B practitioners will be particularly interested in Intel's drop, but they should also pay attention to the Starbucks story. The latter scored big gains in its brand value by maintaining its near-obsession with producing a consistent "culture"—in other words, promising and delivering a specific and highly-valued experience at every touch. That's the essence of a strong brand, whether consumer or B to B.

Interbrand's formula for calculating brand value is itself worth sharing with those in your company who see the brand as too soft (i.e., not quanitfiable enough) to justify sustained investment. A PDF version of the entire report—which goes beyond the abridged version in BW's Aug 7 print issue—is available here.