GLOBAL: Coca-Cola struggles in brand rankings

Coca-Cola has dropped out of the top ten of Brand Finance Global's 500 most valuable brands for the first time.

The soft drinks brand slid from its number three spot in 2010 to number 16 this year in the research firm's league table that ranks the most valuable brands across all major markets. The brand dropped in value by 26% to US$25.81bn in 2011 as a result of consumers in developed markets opting for healthier, non-CSDs.

However, PepsiCo, climbed the table to number 24 from 31 last year. The brand increased in value by 22% to $19.51bn.

Further down the table, Heineken dropped from its number 63 position to number 75 as the brand's value slid by 2.8% to $11.11bn. Danone also dropped in value, to the 150th most valuable brand from 123 last year, while Carlsberg climbed to number 285 from 373 in 2010.

The technology brands led the field, with Google overtaking Microsoft for the top spot. Google is now the most valuable brand in the world, according to the league table with a value of $44.3bn.

Brand Finance CEO, David Haigh, said: ‘‘The rise of the technology brands has been expected for some time. Over the last couple of years, we have found that, across many leading companies, senior management are increasingly using brand valuation dashboards to monitor the health of their brands throughout the year in order to make better informed strategic marketing decisions. This trend is likely to continue as the sheer size of these brand values becomes impossible to ignore.''

To view the full table, click here.