Coca-Cola, IBM, Sony Top Survey of Brand Names

Coca-Cola, IBM and Sony are the three most powerful brand names in the world, according to a new survey published Monday.

The Landor Imagepower Survey identified the 40 corporate or consumer brand names that register most strongly with consumers in the United States, Japan and Western Europe. Of the 40 top brands, 17 belong to U.S. companies, 14 to European firms and 9 to the Japanese, the study found.

The study was conducted by Landor Associates, an image management and strategic design consultant. The firm interviewed 3,000 consumers in the three geographic markets to test 2,140 brand names.

After Coca-Cola, IBM and Sony, the study found the 25 most powerful brands were, in descending order: Porsche, McDonald’s, Disney, Honda, Toyota, Seiko, BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Pepsi Cola, Kleenex, Nestle, Rolex, Jaguar, Xerox, Lipton, Hilton, Polaroid, Canon, Levi’s, Yamaha and Nissan.