According to the Millward Brown research consultancy, Google is Britain’s most popular brand. And while that accomplishment in impressive enough its own right, the search engine company achieved it while spending remarkably little money on advertising.
Google’s on quite a roll in these popularity contests; the company was also recently designated America’s most popular brand of 2006, and Fortune magazine named it the number one place to work. Even reaching (all the way) back to 2005, Google made a “top brands” list. Not bad.
Microsoft managed to place second in the Millward Brown rankings, but it spent about $78 million in advertising, according to The Guardian’s Mark Sweney. Google’s advertising department spent a mere $3 million. The difference between those sums has not escaped the public or the media, as articles with titles like “Brits Love Google More Than Microsoft” and “Google beats Gates in UK love stakes” proliferate.
Peter Walshe, Millward Brown’s global account manager, explained how the search engine company had achieved its top ranking (without resorting to media blitzes). “Google has been propelled to the top position because of its ubiquitous presence, the strength of its brand, the amount of coverage it generates in all media and its strong usage among all age groups,” Walshe told The Guardian.
So . . . will Google be able to hold onto its title as “most popular brand” in the future? Landor Associates (which conducted the American survey) isn’t telling, and neither is Millward Brown. Millward Brown did, however, identify another company – MySpace – as “one to watch.”
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Doug is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest eBusiness news.
