• by Aaron Baar , May 9, 2011

Already one of the most respected brands in the world, Apple is now the most valuable as well.

According to WPP Group's sixth annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study -- which calculates a brand's value based on financial data combined with consumer measures of brand equity -- Apple's brand value stands at $153.3 billion, an increase of 84% since last year and 859% since 2006. For the previous four years, Google has held the top spot, but Apple's introduction of the iPad (and iPad2) moved it into the top spot, according to Eileen Campbell, global chief executive of Millward Brown, which conducted the study.

"I think Apple is benefitting from inventing a whole new category," Campbell tells Marketing Daily. "This year's rankings are the tale of the tablet. The iPad is the first device that is completely ubiquitous computing. What Apple [also] did well in 2010 is they grew every single one of their lines of business, with the exception of iPods. They're still keeping an eye on their other products."

Technology brands dominated the list, comprising one-third of the top 100 brands, and landing six in the top 10. In addition to Apple and Google, IBM, Microsoft, AT&T and China Mobile made the top 10, while technology brands made up one-third of the top 100. Amazon.com passed Wal-Mart as the No. 1 retail brand (and 14th overall) with a value of $37.6 billion, and Facebook debuted on the list at 35, with brand value of $19.1 billion, a year-to-year increase in brand value at 246%.

"Technology has the ability to service the needs we didn't even know we have," Campbell says of the prevalence of tech companies on the list. "How would you describe Facebook to someone before it existed? It's created a whole new set of consumer behaviors that didn't exist a few years ago."

Facility with technology has even helped improve other brands by association. Burberry, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Coca-Cola have all benefitted from harnessing social media and apps.

"Some of the heritage brands that have done well have tapped into the technology world as a communications tool," Campbell says, citing Coca-Cola's "My Rewards" program and PepsiCo's "Refresh Everything" programs as examples. "Clever marketers are tapping into what's going on in our lives with technology and using it to drive their brands."