Reuters: Google Tops Apple, Coke in Branding Poll

If you want PR here is a tried and test way of getting it - conduct a survey into something, anything, and include big names. If you do that it doesn't matter how stupid your survey is, it will get picked up by the star struck press and blasted around the world.

Minimalist Internet search engine Google was voted "brand of the year" by branding junkies on Tuesday, proving once again that less is more as it pipped giants such as Coca-Cola and Starbucks to the top slot.

Google, the powerful search tool that presents Net surfers with a minimum of visual clutter, came top in a global poll of 1,315 respondents to a survey by Interbrand, the leading British branding agency.

The respondents, who were described as "above averagely intelligent" professionals and students from over 72 countries, were asked which brand had made the most impact on their lives in 2002, either positively or negatively.

The researchers, who were described as "below average intelligence," need to remind themselves that there is meant to be a point to research beyond helping your client get press coverage.

Google Finds Brand Power. The search king finished ahead of such names as Coca-Cola and Starbucks for world's top brand. [The Motley Fool]

In other words, an insiginificant polling sample with an indeterminate number of people from unknown backgrounds voted on a subject. And from this, we get "world's top brand"? Please.

For a more, uh, legitimate survey, there's always the Business Week "Global Brands Scorecard" that hits every August. From last year's survey, the top brands were:

1. Coke
2. Microsoft
3. IBM
4. GE
5. Intel
6. Nokia
7. Disney
8. McDonald's
9. Marlboro
10. Mercedes

I'd have expected Motley Fool to be a bit more selective in deciding what to publish.