National Brand Value
Brand Finance released its annual national brand power report for 2014 on Feb. 12. According to it, Korea’s brand value increased 29 percent year-on-year to US$997 billion. Although Korea ranked 16th in both 2013 and 2014, it showed the ninth-highest rate of increase among the 100 countries to be picked as Best Performers.
The list was topped by the United States (US$19.261 trillion), which took the foremost place for five years in a row. It was followed by China (US$6.352 trillion), Germany (US$4.357 trillion), the U.K. (US$2.833 trillion), and Japan (US$2.458 trillion). Their rankings showed no change last year.
The others in the top 10 are Canada (US$2.212 trillion), France (US$1.938 trillion), India (US$1.621 trillion), Australia (US$1.555 trillion), and Brazil (US$1.403 trillion). Brazil lost 5 percent of its brand value and slid two notches in spite of the 2014 World Cup. They were followed by Italy (US$1.289 trillion), Russia (US$1.167 trillion), Switzerland (US$1.151 trillion), Mexico (US$1.027 trillion), and the Netherlands (US$1.026 trillion).
Brand Finance measured the brand strength index by evaluating each country’s input, throughput and output in the four fields of commodities and services, tourism, manpower, and investment, and calculated the rankings by adding factors such as GDP, potential risks, and long-term economic growth rates.