Google, Lego and Gucci among the top brands in the world according to study

Google has taken over from Apple as the world's most valuable brand according to the latest ranking study published by Brand Finance Global 500.

Gucci Timepieces & Jewelry will unveil their new addition to its
Le Marché des Merveilles collection at the Baselworld 2017
March 27 - 30.
The hallmark features of the bee, the tiger and the snake
are elegantly embroidered on a nylon dial against the famed Gucci stripe.
On the sportier versions, this stripe continues into a woven
strap which bears Gucci's expression, "L’Aveugle par Amour". 

In the annual study by Brand Finance which calculates the most valuable and powerful brands in the world,  it claims that Apple's fall after five years at the top comes as its brand value dropped 27% to US$107/1bn over 2016, while Google's rose by 24% to $109.5bn.

In third place was Amazon, while Facebook moved up from 17th last year to ninth. The highest ranked British brand is Vodafone, which came in at 50th, 20 places down from 2016.

Technology brands aside, toy brand Lego - spurred by the Lego Batman Movie - has replaced Disney as the world's most powerful brand, according to the ranking.
When looking at the top 20th retail brands, two luxury watch brands - Rolex and Cartier have been listed  respectively at 18th and 20th place, with fashion brand Gucci squeezed in the middle.  The only other brands with a watch and jewellery retail offering in the top 40 strongest firms are Tiffany & Co (38th place) and Burberry (40th place).

Meanwhile, according to David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance, in an interview on the Telegraph.co.uk, there is also a growing dissatisfaction across the globe with American brands, when commenting on why global fast food chains McDonald’s, KFC and Domino’s Pizza continue to drop down the rankings of the world’s most valuable brands, saying the election of Donald Trump could impact a company’s international standing.“There was a period when American brands were considered to be very aspirational. Gradually goodwill towards American brands has been eroded,” he said.“One of the interesting dimensions at the moment is the extent to which Trumpism is actually going to accelerate this negative view about American brands.”