Google First 100 Billion Dollar Brand And Famous Rivalries

 

Google First 100 Billion Dollar Brand

Google just keeps getting bigger and bigger. The search engine giant is not only the world’s biggest brand, it is also the first brand worth $100 billion. A report from the market research firm Millward Brown shows Google has kept its position as the world’s most powerful brand. It valued the company at $101.4 billion. This is 25 per cent higher than its biggest rival Microsoft, which is the second most valuable brand. The “Top 100 Most Powerful Brands” report lists Coca Cola at number three, followed by IBM and McDonalds. Technology companies make up eight of the top ten. Google’s brand is helped because it is now also a verb in everyday use. It is very common to hear people say “Google it” when they want some information.

The report is the world’s largest study of what consumers and businesses think of brands. It says a brand name is key for any business to grow. “A strong brand can help protect a business from risk, and position it for future growth,” it says. The authors believe a strong brand name is “the ultimate return on investment”. Joanna Seddon, chief executive of Millward Brown, told reporters: "In the current economic environment, brand has become even more important because it can help to sustain companies in tough times." Her report says brand value has grown, even through the recession: “The value of brands remains strong…the total value of the top 100 most valuable brands has increased to just under $2 trillion.”

PART A:

3. BRANDS: What do you think of these brands? Describe them.

Brand	Logo	Product	Advertising
Google
McDonalds
Nokia
Seat
Ferrari
Chanel Honest Greens

4. GOOGLE: Students A strongly believe Google is the most useful website on the Internet; Students B strongly believe there are other, more useful websites than Google.  Discuss

5. RIVALS: What do you know about these rivalries? Which one do you think is the most intense rivalry?  

Coca Cola / Pepsi Cola Mortal Kombat/ Street Fighter Barcelona / Real Madrid Mario/Sonic Nike /Adidas Gucci / Chanel Tupac / Notorious B.I.G. Beatles/ Rolling Stones Cardi B/ Nicki Minaj Oasis/ Blur Argentina/ Uruguay/Chile Messi/ Ronaldo Messi/ Maradona Jordan/ Lebron Google / Microsoft Honest Greens/ McDondalds Coca Cola / Pepsi Cola Mortal Kombat/ Street Fighter

6. Other Rivalries: Can you think of other rivalries not mentioned in the list ?

7. What do you think of the use of “Google” as a verb?

Would you use other company names as verbs? (Try some.)

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1.	giant	a.	maintained
2	firm	b.	present
3.	kept	c.	usual
4.	helped	d.	research
5.	common	e.	company
6.	study	f.	profit
7.	protect	g.	colossus
8.	return	h.	stays
9.	current	i.	aided
10.	remains	j.	Safeguard

BRANDS DISCUSSION

b)	What springs to mind when you hear the term ‘search engine’?
c)	What do you think about Google?
d)	Do you always try to buy or use top brands?
e)	How important is a company’s name in making it successful?
f)	What do you think Google does to promote its brand name?
g)	Are there any company names or logos you think are stupid?
h)	Do you think technology companies will always be the most powerful? Part B:
b)	What are your favourite brands?
c)	How important is Google in your life?
d)	Do you think it’s important for international brands to sound English?Why?
e)	Do you think a brand can become powerful globally if it uses non-English characters in its logo (Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, etc)?
g)	Why is a brand name important to survive tough economic times?
h)	Why do you think brand value has increased, even in a recession?
i)	If you were to start a company, what brand name would you decide on?
j)	What questions would you ask Joanna Seddon about brands?