Study ranks the most valuable brands in the world

Companies with women on their corporate boards outperform those with no females, according to the annual study.

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Apple was No. 1 on the study, which is commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor. Its brand value rose 19 percent, the study said.

IBM took the No. 2 spot, followed by Google, McDonald’s, and Microsoft.

In a press release announcing the list, Eileen Campbell, global CEO of Millward Brown, called brands an “insurance policy” for businesses.

“Despite a prolonged period of economic stress, political uncertainty and natural disasters that buffeted brands across many categories, the value of the world’s leading brands keeps rising across many categories, sustaining and nurturing businesses,” she said in a statement.

The study ranks brands by their dollar value, which is based on financial data, market intelligence, and consumer measures of brand equity. Among the notable findings from the study is that companies with women on their corporate boards outperform those with no women.

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