The top ten brands in the world according to the new BrandZTop 100 survey

You just can’t compete with that iconic Apple logo. For the second year in a row, Apple was named the world’s most valuable brand with a value of $182.9 billion, according to a study out today from WPP’s Millward Brown. The tech industry fared pretty well overall, with four of the top five brands and seven of the top 10.

Microsoft ranked fifth with a brand value of $76.6 billion, just behind McDonald’s. That was down two percent. Rounding out the top five were IBM — showing a 15 percent gain to $115.9 billion — and Google — which declined three percent to $107.8 billion.

Retailers Walmart and Amazon.com were neck-and-neck at $34 billion. Each saw single digit declines in their brand values.

And Facebook, which completed its spectacular IPO last week, saw its brand value increase 74 percent to finish right behind Amazon at $33.2 billion. It was the biggest gainer in the list.

“Brands are an insurance policy for businesses,” said Eileen Campbell, CEO of brand research company Millward Brown. “Despite a prolonged period of economic stress, political uncertainty and natural disasters that buffeted brands across many categories, the value of the world’s leading brands keeps rising across many categories, sustaining and nurturing businesses.” In fact, between 2006 and today, the company found that brand values rose by 66 percent across the top 100 companies.

Here’s a closer look at the top 25. (Click on graphic for full list)

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