Google, became the world’s first $100 billion brand this week according to a report to a business analysis report by BrandZ. While studying the paper, we were all struck by the number of technology brands in the top 20. The power of the brand in the technology sector is stronger than ever and as important as ever. Especially in today’s economic climate, where the brand can help see businesses through difficult times. 

As everyone knows Google was named as a misspelling of Googol - the number one with 100 noughts after it. So, even at 100 billion, the brand has quite a few noughts to collect before it reaches parity with its parent!

Top twenty most valuable brands 2009 in $M:

Google - 100,039; Microsoft - 76,249; Coca-Cola  - 67,625; IBM - 66,622; McDonalds- 66,575; Apple - 66,113; China Mobile - 61,283; General Electric - 59,793; Vodafone 53,727; Marlboro 49,460; Wal-Mart 41,083; ICBC 38,056; Nokia 35,163; Toyota 29,907; UPS 27,842; Blackberry 27,478; HP  26,745; BMW 23,948; SAP 23,615; Disney 23,110

The weak pound may be bad for Brit’s heading abroad this summer, but, for businesses looking to sell their products and services into Europe and beyond, it could bring a little ray of sunshine.  Assisting businesses with their international marketing campaigns for over 20 years, Beechwood are experts in the translation and localisation of marketing communications.

High quality translations remain an enigma for many businesses.  That’s why we have put together a seven step guide to better translations which can help to improve overseas marketing efforts.

Download our presentation guide Seven Simple Steps to Better Translations

Beechwood recently polled marketing professionals and asked them, what was the most important factor when selecting a marketing agency?

The results of the survey found that the three most important criteria for selection were:

1. Demonstration of results
2. Industry experience
3. Cultural fit

Given the pressure on marketing professionals in these difficult times to achieve measurable success, it was perhaps little surprise that 50% of participants considered an agency’s ability to demonstrate results as the number one factor.  This was closely followed by industry experience, with 42% considering this to be the first priorty in agency selection.

However, many marketers were keen to point out that these factors alone would not ensure a good fit between agency and client.  As one Senior Marketing Officer for a major financial corporation remarked, “The most relevant factor is how good a cultural fit you sense between the agency and the group managing it.  I’ve seen excellent agencies and great brand teams collide due to a poor cultural fit.  And egos have a huge role in generating the “fit” sensation”.

This week, the Beechwood team went to a Russian restaurant to celebrate Russia’s “Old New Year” (a tradition celebrating New Year according to the Julian calendar).

My colleague Alina used the Internet to search for Russian restaurants in London. Browsing through several social media sites, she read restaurant reviews, looked at photos of restaurants and browsed through menus online, before she chose our venue. The restaurant was in the basement of a London hotel. Off the beaten track, the hotel itself was tricky to find. The restaurant within was even harder to locate, infact, there were no signs to indicate its existence.

Yet, we found ourselve in this busy basement restaurant, where every table was in use. As one of the team commented, “you wouldn’t just stumble upon this place; you would have to know about it”. My point is that the Internet has turned marketing on its head. In their 2008 benchmark survey for technology marketers, Marketing Sherpa found that 93% of those involved in the purchase of technology begin the sales cycle with an online search. Furthermore, 80% of those technology purchasers said that they found the vendor, that’s just 20% who were found by the vendor.

With the explosion of social media in the B2B world, marketers need to identify the online directories, forums and blogs most visited by their target audiences. Contribute to social networks and make sure your business and its solutions are highly visible online…you might not find the buyers, but they will find you.

On September 29th, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index plunged and all of its constituents’ stocks fell, all bar one: the Campbell Soup Company. Investors flocked to the iconic brand, which makes some of America’s favourite soups and its shares went up by 0.3 percent. That’s a very good clue to the type of brands that will prosper in 2009 - those that represent good quality and excellent value for money.

According to Interbrand, as value for money rises up the consumers’ agenda, two early beneficiaries of consumers’ changing mood have been German hard-discount supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl (read Mark’s blog on brand names, coming soon), which have been gaining market share across Europe from established giants. It used to be shameful for the middle-class to shop at discounter stores but now their brands suggest intelligent buying.

For consumer, read business. I believe now is the time for agencies to respond as partners to their clients in these challenging times with solutions that deliver good quality and excellent value for money. The flight to value is for all of us to embrace. As a marketing agency, Beechwood have always liked to think we offer our clients value. And with the current weakness of sterling against the dollar we now offer our US clients more value than ever.

Over dinner the other evening, I got into discussions with a colleague’s husband, a data centre architect about the halting of data centre construction in central London. He says the culprit is the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The City of London has a power demand of 1,000MK which is expected to increase by 80 per cent over the next 5-7 years, while Docklands, home of several data centres has a power demand of 250MK, which is predicted to rise to 90 percent over the same period. It’s claimed that political prioritisation has occurred to ensure the games’ success so risking the UK’s financial sector. Chris Crosby, VP of Digital Reality, the largest provider of data centres in the world, says “There’s the potential now for London to go technology-dry because of the lack of power”.

The broader question, has the government dithered over what is probably one of the most critical issues for business, a clear strategic policy to provide energy security for the next ten years and be compliant with its own CO2 emission targets? Review the BBC’s survey findings, it’s very insightful.

Please let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who came to our 21st birthday party at the Museum of Brands in London. I hope you enjoyed the evening. Also thanks to those of you who couldn’t make it for your kind words of congratulation.

Emma’s choice of location for the party was truly inspired, not only because it’s the world we inhabit (all things brand) but also because it provided a common and fascinating topic of conversation.

Our industry, like so many others has undergone an amazing change over the past two decades. In 1987, the Apple Mac was still in its infancy, the DTP revolution was in the basement being planned and Flash was a floor cleaner not a software. To airbrush was to airbrush, ink and compressed air - not a pixel in sight. Magic markers, layout pads and Letraset, a great British invention, were ubiquitous. And how we were dependent on those “stuck in traffic” motorbike couriers. The fax was the height of technology.

A lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same! A great creative idea is still a great idea. All that’s really different is the landscape in which the idea appears. This was driven home to me at the museum as I watched those classic commercials from the 70s and 80s. Heineken, refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach, and happiness is a cigar called Hamlet - a golden period for British advertising.

Thanks once again and especially to Andrew Gulland (07885 721 917) for taking all the wonderful pictures. A closing thought, “The only good ideas are the ones I can take credit for.” R. Stevens, Diesel Sweeties, 11-13-06