• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, October 9, 2014

Interbrand named Apple's brand and logo the most valuable worldwide with a net worth of nearly $119 billion in its The Best 100 Brands report. The company received the honor for the second consecutive year, leading Google, Coca-Cola, IBM and Microsoft in the top five. It required building what Interbrand calls a "mecosystem." Here's what that means.

It means building tighter, seamless experiences. The Age of You requires brands to create a mecosystem through personalizing how and where people experience product and services, not just messages. Search serves as the technical hub, facilitating the spokes to connect the data.

"Brands that seek to lead in the Age of You will have to recognize the human in the data, uncover genuine insights, and create a truly personalized and curated experience -- an ecosystem to satisfy the Mecosystem," per the report from Interbrand, part of Omnicom global advertising group.

Interbrand defines mecosystem as a method that places the consumer at the center of the ecosystem. Informed by consumer data, the mecosystem puts the surroundings or location into context -- perhaps weather -- and seeks similarities across experiences to ensure the ads or content provide information on relevant services and products. It's about harnessing the collective intelligence of personal networks of friends, places, passions, and favorite brands to make the most of connections.

Rounding out the top five, Google’s brand value rose 15% to $107 billion to take second place. It was followed by Coca-Cola, up 3% to $81.5 billion, IBM at $72.2 billion, and Microsoft at $45.5 billion.

Facebook's brand value at No. 29 rose the most sharply -- increasing by 86% to $14.3 billion to take the No. 29 spot, ahead of Kellogg's Budweiser, Cannon and Nescafe. Volkswagen at No. 31 was also noted as a "top riser," up 23% to $13.7 billion; and No. 45, Audi, 27% to $9.8 billion; and Nissan at No. 56, up 23% to $7.6 billion.

In the Age of You, per the Interbrand study, brands serve as enablers. Mecosystems connect businesses to people, and people to each other. 

The methodology for the study is explained here.

"Young pretty woman opening her shirt like a superhero" photo from Shutterstock.