Superhero search engine Google leads the global choice among 1,315 respondents with 15 percent of the vote, climbing to the top from last year's fourth place position.

What's so special about Google that it was chosen for the worldwide 2002 Readers' Choice Award? Perhaps because it is absolutely the tool of the moment to make the best use of the Internet (the other perfect tool of our day). Started by a couple of techies, Google is kind enough to hide its high-tech interior from the public and give us nothing but a friendly, easy to use, clear, clean exterior.

Google is also an up-to-date chronicle of our own obsessions. For instance, the fact that "job search" was one of the top ten rising search queries on Google in January is not surprising, but would you believe that hassled little Isla Perejil was among the top ten news queries of last year? Or would you have guessed that Ronaldo and Zidane couldn't outscore David Beckham for top sports names Googled in 2002? And what about the use of the verb "to Google," which has swept into our everyday conversation so rapidly? Google has become indispensable in such a short period of time, by focusing on what it does well -- returning likely results on a search query. Will it avoid the temptation to branch out to the portal market like Yahoo! and MSN? Next year's Readers' Choice Award survey will reveal how well Google continues to handle its brand.

Not far behind Google with 14 percent of the vote is Apple (2001 Readers' Choice Award winner). Beloved by a small but vocal contingency, Apple has an overall market share of less than 3 percent worldwide and less than 5 percent in the US, its "strongest" market. Nevertheless its steady array of new product releases and cheeky David-to-Goliath positioning makes it hard not to notice and perhaps explains why our readers tend to favor it.

Caffeinated treats Coca-Cola and Starbucks are third (12 percent) and fourth (11 percent) with furnishings retailer Ikea setting up home at fifth place with 10 percent of the readers' global vote.

US & Canada: Bull's-eye

In the United States and Canada, Target takes the lead with 19 percent of the vote based on 1,983 respondents in this section. Apple follows close behind at 18 percent, showing a similar trend to the 2001 results where Target took top prize and Apple pulled in second.

Electronics top the list for Asia-Pacific brands in 2002 with technology and entertainment brands from South Korea and Japan taking the first four positions. Among 800 voters in this region, 24 percent chose the South Korean brand LG Electronics as the Asia-Pacific brand with the most impact in 2002. Founded in 1958, LG (formerly Goldstar) was among the brands leading Korea's technology revolution and has continued to dominate the electronics market ever since. LG Electronics' stated goals for 2005 are to become a global leader, become synonymous with customer service and improve internal brand alignment; based on the impact it's had on our readers, it appears to be heading toward achieving those goals.

LG's local Korean competitor Samsung placed second with 22 percent of the vote. This electronic brand's recent attention to innovative design and improved quality with consumer products, like phones, TVs, PDAs, and audio devices, contributes to its strong standing among Asian brands.

Following Samsung is Sony's PlayStation at 19 percent and Sony Ericsson at 18 percent. These two high-rankers demonstrate Sony's presence in the region, which is not surprising given Sony's overall position as second in the world for consumer electronics market share (behind Matsushita). Swedish firm Ericsson, which began to lose the battle with Nokia and Motorola for ear-share, is clearly benefiting from its east meets west association with Japan's Sony, although the venture has so far not generated profits.

Bringing up the rear of the top five brands for Asia-Pacific is Japan's top automaker Toyota (16 percent), which may just steer the future with its increasingly popular gas-electric hybrid car, Prius.

Last year's top 5 winners, Singapore Airlines and Hello Kitty slipped to sixth and 11th place respectively in 2002.

Latin America: Proof

Beverages rated high on the Latin American brands list. Corona, owned by Grupo Modelo SA, takes the crown with 31 percent of the vote from among 406 voters for this section. Cuban rum brand Bacardi brings in 28 percent, followed by coffee brand Café de Colombia at 17 percent and Mexican baker Bimbo rises to join the top four with 11 percent. Brazilian airline Varig arrives fifth with just over ten percent.

Details: What, How, Who

For the purposes of brandchannel's Readers' Choice Award survey, we asked respondents to make their choices based on the brands that had the most impact on their lives in 2002. Impact can be positive or negative; similarly the brand can be on the road to ruin, the cusp of collapse, the brink of bankruptcy, or some other awful alliteration and still qualify as having an impact (for instance, ex-energy company Enron got 3 percent of the US/Canada vote).

The most important thing about qualifying as a brand of the year is that you noticed it in 2002. This will explain the highly visible personalities and organizations that were submitted as write-in votes including David Beckham, Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue, Iraq, al Jazeera, and al Qaeda.

The survey was hosted online at brandchannel.com during November and December of 2002. Readers were allowed to vote once for each region and complete the demographics section once. No section of the survey was mandatory, which explains the varying response rates by region. Respondents from 72 countries participated in the survey; the strongest age group was 26 to 35 with nearly a third as many women as men participating overall.

The brandchannel readership overall comprises an above-average, intelligent group of professionals and students from over 90 countries and a range of industries who are interested in issues involving branding.

____________________
Brandchannel will be conducting a 2003 Readers' Choice Award survey. For those wishing to participate in the initial drafting of a shortlist this autumn, please email us with a brief description of your expertise and regional background, and you will be added to the contact list.    

[10-Feb-2003]