According to this article Apple is the world’s most desired brand.

If you don’t have time to follow the link, here are the basics:

M&C Brand consultancy Clear quote: “took in the views” (what does that mean?) of 17,000 consumers across the UK, USA, Germany, China and Singapore and questioned them about hundreds (how long did that take?) of brands across multiple categories. Respondents were asked to reveal brands they want to hear more about, brands they want to use in future and brands they like to talk about, amongst other criteria. End quote.

Many of the usual suspects – BMW, Sony, Mercedes, Rolex, Nintendo, Microsoft, Amazon, Audi, Gucci, Cartier all got a mention. But what really surprised me was that Google (2nd) and WWF (5th) were also on the list. I’m curious, how can anyone desire Google? I mean in what way can they desire Google? How can Google be a desirable brand? Or for that matter WWF (is that wrestling or nature?).

The report also measured the performance of the top 100 brands against the Standard & Poor’s 500. I don’t know how the comparison was made, but apparently it “showed that desirable brands provide good return on investment and share growth”.

The report states that “The level of desirability is reflected in levels of profitability over the last five years. The top ten brands have grown more than the top 50, and the top 50 have grown more than the top 100 according to the S&P data.”

What is the link between brand desirability of a huge sample size across multiple countries, ROI and share growth? I mean I desire an Aston Martin but I’ll never own one!

17,000 is a huge sample size and I’m not trying to diss the report but it would be helpful if we had more information to determine if the report makes sense and how we can use it to help clients.