For the sixth year in a row, WPP-owned global research agency Millward Brown Optimor analyses and complies the BrandZ ranking, which focuses on consumer-facing brands, rather than corporate onces. This year’s results, announced last week,  revealed new strong local players as well as proved some long established economic trends.

While Apple with $153.3 billion value recognised as the most valuable brand in BrandZ Top 100 2011 ranking, certainly, Facebook appeared a ‘true’ leader of the chart, having performed fantastic 246-percent growth of its brand value. Strikingly, this year the world’s most popular social network debuted as No. 35 on the list with $19.1 billion value. Upstaged by the most innovative technology giant, who shook the world in 2010 with a series of brilliant IT products and services, ranked No. 2 rival Google entered the chart with $111.5 billion brand value.

The most remarkable highlight of the newly revealed ranking was the fact that economy had finally shifted from recovery to growth, as overall brands value rose up to 17% across all industry categories. Yet another «captain obvious» point became the fact that local emerging market brands (such as Chinese, Indian, Russian etc) made up 19% of the ranking, up 18% since 2006. For instance, Chinese search engine Baidu became No. 29, up from No. 75 last year.

Again, this year experts admitted further growth in brand value among technology and innovation-driven brands, such as Apple, IBM, Google, Miscrodoft and their ‘hi-tech peers’ Baidu, Siemens, Canon etc. Interestingly, that every third dollar of the 2011 ranking was accounted for by technology brands.

Below is the Top 20 Risers Chart, representing the fastest-growing in value global and regional brands.  For more information, expert insights and comments, charts and figures, please go to: http://www.millwardbrown.com/BrandZ/Default.aspx

Top 20 Risers