Brand Momentum is a strong indicator of growth

Good news for Baidu, Skol, Google, China Mobile, Amazon and select financials . . .

Brands that emerged from the recession on a gust of increased demand are likely to enjoy strong growth in the near-term.  Technology leaders – Baidu and Google – and financial institutions – Visa, Santander, RBC, Bank of America — measured high on Brand Momentum according to the 2010 BrandZ ranking of the 100 most valuable global brands by Millward Brown Optimor. There is one exception – the beer brand Skol, which is highly promoted and perennially popular in Brazil.  Its brand value was influenced by expectations surrounding the InBev/Anheuser-Busch merger and growth prospects in the vibrant Brazilian economy.

The economic strength of BRIC countries accounts for the momentum of rapidly growing Chinese search engine Baidu and China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless operator by number of subscribers.  The momentum of Verizon Wireless reflects the anticipated rollout of a 4G technology in 2010.  Verizon controls the most extensive 3G network in the U.S. and has more subscribers than its competitors.

In just 15 years, Google and Amazon have revolutionized how people worldwide search for information and products.  Google’s brand momentum follows its amazing ascent as a search engine, with reportedly more than 1 billion searches daily, and the popularity of its related products, which include YouTube, Gmail and the Android mobile phone platform.  However, Google’s recent withdrawal from China has introduced a glitch to Google’s otherwise remarkable momentum.  This has made it difficult to assess Google’s forward momentum over the near-term.  Amazon’s brand momentum is the result of their sharp rise from an online purveyor of books to a global retailer second in brand value only to Wal-Mart.

The positive outlook for the Spanish bank, Santander, reflects its major presence in Latin America and its relative insulation from the global financial crisis because of the markets it serves and its banking practices.  Canadian regulations restricted RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) from making some of the risky investments that hurt other financial institutions, and the brand is benefiting from that conservative approach.  In contrast, Bank of America was exposed during the crisis, and its brand value declined by more than 50% before rebounding by 6% this year.  The momentum for Bank of America suggests optimism that the brand will continue to recover value.