Top Brands of 2012

The updated list has been published by Interbrand (the people who brought you the slogan “a Mars a day helps you work, rest and play”) and they describe it as the ‘definitive ranking of the world’s most valuable brands’.

There are several activities to think about before you actually start looking at the list.

Firstly, set yourself the quick challenge of trying to anticipate which brands you’ll see in the Top 10 or Top 20. Next, try to think who is on the way up and who has had a difficult year. The site shows you who is up and who is down (and you’ll find it easy to navigate round the site to find more about each brand, and its recent history).

The last question is the most interesting: how do you suppose a league table like this has been calculated? How would you make a list of ‘best brands’? Helpfully, Interbrand explain how they have done it here.

Both teachers and students might like to join me by experimenting with a handy web tool, Storify, that allows you to put together weblinks into easy-to-access summary pages. As an example, I've been putting together some links on brands here.