Apple, Google and Amazon are the leaders of the World’s Most Admired Companies 2012 chart, unveiled as result of the new survey conducted by the Fortune trade publication and the Hay Group consultancy—a total of 698 companies from 32 countries were included. The companies, which top most of lists of the most successful businesses, are followed by Coca-Cola, IBM, FedEx, Berkshire Hathaway, Starbucks, Procter & Gamble and Southwest Airlines correspondingly. The first two leaders hold their positions for several consecutive years—for instance, Apple heads the chart for the fifth year in a row, Google was the second most admired company in 2010 and 2011 as well (see the last year’s list here).
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Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy has released its 2nd annual global report dedicated to the retail sector. The Best Retail Brands report ranks the top 50 U.S. retail brands by brand value, as well as the top retail brands from the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, and the Asia Pacific region.
Fast Company, the journal covering the latest news in the technology, ethonomics (ethical economics) and design fields, has unveiled its annual ranking The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies. Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon are taking the lead (they are No. 1, 2, 3, and 4 correspondingly). Traditionally, the biggest intrigue here is not who will occupy the top lines (these several leaders are featured on most of ‘the best, the most successful, etc.’ ranks), but in which order they will do it (though, there are some newcomers as well). The most unpredictable thing here is what companies will take the rest of the positions and rule in their industries.
Today, shoppers want sellers to be extremely inventive offering them the new products and services, and sellers really have a lot of resources to satisfy this quench for sophisticated approaches. Now, when digital is on the rise, brands often choose virtual space to get engaged with their consumers through various hubs and applications, primarily Facebook, iPhone or iPad ones. Zappos also followed the trend—the online show and apparel retailer, has released an iPad app entitled ‘Zappos Now’ (or ZN for short), in which an online store got merged with a digital fashion magazine.