Best Global Brands 2008

Rank: 1

Company: Coca Cola Inc
Coca-Cola took the top spot among the Top 10 Global Brands 2008 for the eighth year in a row. Its sales surged in Asia, with Olympic sponsorship boosting its profile. But at the home front, the company continued to record sluggish sales.

Rank: 2

Company: IBM
IT major International Business Machines (IBM) pushed ahead of Microsoft for the first change to the top four since at least 2001.

Rank: 3

Company: Microsoft Corporation
Bill Gates brainchild Microsoft Corporation held the third position in 2008.

Rank: 4

Company: GE
GE held onto fourth position among the Best Global Brands 2008.

Rank: 5

Company: Nokia
Finnish telecom company Nokia was at no 5, amid all the iPhone buzz across the globe. Its reputation for quality put it far ahead of rivals in India and other emerging markets.

Rank: 6

Company: Toyota
Car maker Toyota held the sixth position in the list of Top 10 Global Brands for 2008.

Rank: 7

Company: Intel
The annual study on the hottest brands in the world showed that tech companies put on the strongest showing while financial companies were the weakest.

Rank: 8

Company: McDonald's
To qualify for inclusion in the Best Global Brands 2008 list, each brand must derive at least a third of its earnings outside its home country, be recognisable outside of its base of customers, and have publicly available marketing and financial data.

Rank: 9

Company: Walt Disney
To capitalize on a consumer trend for marking important events with vacations, its parent the Walt Disney Co will offer free tickets to parkgoers in the US on their birthdays in 2009.

Rank: 10

Company: Google Inc
Internet search engine Google jumped ten spots to reach at number 10 in the list of the Best Global Brands 2008. Google's brand value shot up by 43 per cent, from 21.9 billion dollars to 31.5 billion dollars.