2010 was a relatively kind year to the CoreBrand Power Ranking of the top 100 brands, with 51% having improved in Brand Power over the past year, and 58% improving since 2007. The top 10 companies in Brand Power rank are: Coca-Cola, Hershey, Campbell Soup, Johnson & Johnson, Harley-Davidson, Kellogg, Colgate-Palmolive, UPS, Bayer and American Express.

Each year, since 1991, CoreBrand conducts 8,000 telephone interviews among business leaders to measure their perceptions of some of the world’s best corporate brands. Respondents are business decision-makers from the top 20% of U.S. businesses across 49 key industries. Four hundred respondents rate each company annually and 800 companies are measured. “The key to understanding the CoreBrand Brand Power rankings is not to obsess on the finite ranking, but to look at the trend of the brand in comparison to the trend of others in the category,” said James Gregory, CEO at CoreBrand. Read more about the methodology in the full report—the highlights from it are posted below.

In 2010, Coca-Cola managed to hold onto the top rank while Pepsi is now 12 places back. Johnson & Johnson dropped two ranks to the fourth spot, having suffered a series of product recalls. Bayer moved into the top 10, having grown its brand 14 ranks since 2007. Google managed to grow by leaps and bounds, recording an astounding improvement of 62 ranks since 2007, and an increase of 23 since 2009.

Starbucks, which has declined steadily since 2007, now occupies the 23rd rank and seems to be plagued by a series of misfires by senior management. Procter & Gamble, which prides itself on promoting its’ product brands while ignoring its corporate brand, continued its decline to 48, in contrast to its perennial competitor Colgate-Palmolive, which enjoys a lofty corporate brand ranking of 7. “Unfortunately, P&G knows product branding while it ignores corporate branding,” noted Gregory.

The food industry recorded another strong year with Hershey and Campbell Soup continuing their steady rise, taking the second and third ranks respectively. Kellogg’s has been growing dramatically over the past decade and is currently ranked at sixth.

The automotive industry did not post a good year in Brand Power—half of the companies have lost Brand Power for several consecutive years with Toyota, Nissan and GM being the biggest losers. GM, especially, has fallen 57 ranks since 2007.

Of the five US companies within this industry to make the top 100 in Brand Power, only IBM declined over the past three years, dropping from rank 16 to rank 40. Apple continues its strong growth, rising from rank 93 up to rank 45 in just three years. A newcomer to the top 100, Clorox ranks 100th. Having risen almost 24 ranks in the past three years, Clorox has demonstrated impressive growth.