The IBM board of directors today elected Virginia "Ginni" Rometty president and CEO of the company, effective January 1, 2012. She succeeds IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer Samuel J. Palmisano, who retires as IBM's traditional age of 60 and will remain chairman of the board.

"Ginni Rometty has successfully led several of IBM's most important businesses over the past decade—from the formation of IBM Global Business Services to the build-out of our Growth Markets Unit," Palmisano said in a statement. "But she is more than a superb operational executive. With every leadership role, she has strengthened our ability to integrate IBM's capabilities for our clients. She has spurred us to keep pace with the needs and aspirations of our clients by deepening our expertise and industry knowledge. Ginni's long-term strategic thinking and client focus are seen in our growth initiatives, from cloud computing and analytics to the commercialization of Watson. She brings to the role of CEO a unique combination of vision, client focus, unrelenting drive, and passion for IBMers and the company's future. I know the board agrees with me that Ginni is the ideal CEO to lead IBM into its second century."Continue reading...

As Apple gets ready to reveal the iPhone 5 today, the brand that Steve Jobs built has broken into the Top 10 of Interbrand's Best Global Brands ranking for the first time. With a brand value that increased a whopping 58%, Apple is now ranked at #8, up from #17 on last year's list, making it the biggest-rising brand this year.

Part of the rationale for Apple's leap: "great branding meeting great technology to deliver a unique overall experience," according to Interbrand's 2011 report. Looking ahead, "Steve Jobs’ recent resignation has the world curious about the impact on this innovative company as it is unclear how much of the brand’s success was due directly to Jobs’ own vision and control, and how much was due to his team—including new CEO, Tim Cook."

Technology brands dominate this year's list, accounting for seven of the top ten brands (besides Apple, there's IBM, Microsoft, Google, GE, Intel, and HP) and four of the five biggest risers. New entrant HTC, the Taiwanese mobile device-maker that recently shifted from B2B to B2C, makes its debut on the list at #98.

Check out the new 2011 report at BestGlobalBrands.com, and watch Interbrand CEO Jez Frampton's 2011 overview below.Continue reading...

Interbrand has released its 2010 ranking of the world's best global brands. The 11th annual assessment of the world's most successful brands for the first time doesn't include BP, which lost billions of dollars of value, and brand equity, due to the Gulf Oil spill.

"BP's environmental disaster and inability to make good on its brand promise of 'Beyond Petroleum' led to its falling off the list and helped competitor Shell emerge as an industry leader," Interbrand (the parent company of brandchannel) stated. As a result of BP's fall from grace, Shell is now ranked 81—up from 92 last year—in this year's standings.

Toyota, which also had a tough year in the wake of recall-related consumer mistrust, lost 16% of its brand value and fell out of the top 10, dropping from 8 to 11 as "its long-standing reputation for reliability, efficiency and innovation helped it weather the crisis better than expected.

Goldman Sachs, "once the envy of Wall Street," increased one position (from 38 to 37) and saw its brand valuation rise 1%. The financial services giant "faces the dichotomy of strong economic results and an angry public that will continue to lash out until the company begins to demonstrate that it is making sincere efforts to better align its ethics with its brand."

HP cracked into the top 10, making #10 "despite a challenging year" and for "smart additions to its product portfolio." Other tech brands, meanwhile, dominated the top five fastest gaining brands.Continue reading...

To put the Coca-Cola's "disappointing" quarter into perspective: The brand's net income in the third quarter was $1.9 billion (about 81 cents per share), up from $1.89 billion a year earlier. By volume, its overall sales still climbed 2% (after a 4% rise in the second quarter and a 2% rise in the first).

But is Coke in trouble? Granted, the brand is an icon and will never be gone. But even as sales of carbonated soda drinks (like Coke) rose1% in the quarter, those snazzier drinks the kids like so much, like Vitaminwater, rose 7%.Continue reading...

How does a retailer lure shoppers into stores when consumers are resigned not to spend? Clothing retailer H&M has managed to increase sales 13% in the last quarter, thanks to consumers "attracted to markdowns," announcing a 4% profit last quarter. Despite an 11% like-for-like decline in August sales, the discounter's recession-friendly proposition of fast fashion at affordable prices aided the brand's rise in Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2009, gaining 11% in Brand Value and jumping up one spot, to 21. 

According to the Interbrand, H&M plans to add up to 7,000 new jobs and open 225 new stores worldwide. The brand plans aggressive expansion into the Asia-Pacific and Russian markets, which have weathered the economic crisis better than some regions, and should be welcoming. In Japan, consumers have shown a cultural shift away from status obsession, and are now much more open to affordable brands. Continue reading...

It’s no surprise that the Coke, number one brand in Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2009, is moving more aggressively into the digital marketplace. Coca-Cola's longtime success owes much to their ability reach customers in ways that go way beyond the actual product.

Pepsi, who has targeted younger cola fans for decades with pop-culture icons from Michael Jackson to Britney Spears, is ahead of Coke in online branding—and not just for the under-21 texting crowd. The brand is launching Pepsi We Inspire, a digital community intended for African-American moms. Pepsi understands that, especially in the long-tail world of the Internet, there’s no single “Pepsi Generation.” Continue reading...

Will iPhone apps that help you find local stores or place mobile orders help the struggling Starbucks brand recover?

After 16 years of dominance, and escalating growth, the chain has encountered a drop in sales, a loss of control over brand identity, and been forced to shutter nearly 600 stores. Starbucks dropped five places, to 90, in Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2009 report, losing 16% of Brand Value amidst competition from McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts and local coffee shops.

Despite these setbacks, the brand isn't throwing in the towel. The retailer has rallied since bottoming out in November 2008 (to their credit, it was a rough month all around), and worked to reposition. Two new iPhone applications are intended to augment the customer experience: The myStarbucks application allows customers to build and share drink recipes, find the nearest Starbucks, and look up nutritional information. 

But the real spark of ingenuity comes in the Starbucks Card Mobile application, which lets customers manage their Starbucks gift card, check and refill their balance, and make store purchases. A trial version in 16 locations offers customers the option to pay using their iPhone mobile devices. Continue reading...

IRI Times and Trends reports an explosion of brand equity for private labels:

Private label unit share has grown 1.2 points to 22.8 percent and dollar share has grown 0.7 points to 17.6 percent across all outlets in the past 12 months.

Safeway’s O Organics and Supervalu’s Wild Harvest now approach established brand name packaged goods in value. Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2009 report cites Wal-Mart, Tesco, Carrefour and Target as private label brand leaders, but also notes a great deal of missed opportunity:

Many retailers are still following the tired and expected formula of emulating national brands, rather than learning from the successful European model of developing a new vernacular and creating destination brands in their own right.Continue reading...