Top 100 Powerful Brands in the World

Rank	Brand	Brand Value ($bil)	1-Yr Value Change (%)	Brand Revenue ($bil)	Company Advertising ($mil)	Industry
1	Apple	104.3	20	156.5	1,100	Technology
2	Microsoft	56.7	4	77.8	2,600	Technology
3	Coca-Cola	54.9	9	23.5	3,342	Beverages
4	IBM	50.7	5	104.5	1,339	Technology
5	Google	47.3	26	43.5	772	Technology
6	McDonald's	39.4	5	88.3	788	Restaurants
7	General Electric	34.2	2	132.1	-	Diversified
8	Intel	30.9	-4	53.3	2,000	Technology
9	Samsung	29.5	53	181.0	4,398	Technology
10	Louis Vuitton	28.4	16	9.4	4,211	Luxury
11	BMW	27.9	6	77.6	-	Automotive
12	Cisco	27.0	3	48.6	218	Technology
13	Oracle	26.9	4	37.2	85	Technology
14	Toyota	25.6	17	186.6	3,970	Automotive
15	AT&T	24.2	0	126.4	2,910	Telecom
16	Mercedes-Benz	23.5	8	90.9	-	Automotive
17	Disney	23.1	21	22.0	2,500	Leisure
18	Wal-Mart	21.7	7	299.5	2,300	Retail
19	Budweiser	21.1	14	9.9	-	Alcohol
20	Honda	21.1	1	115.2	3,048	Automotive
21	SAP	19.6	28	20.3	-	Technology
22	Verizon	19.3	0	115.8	2,381	Telecom
23	Gillette	18.3	9	8.0	9,300	Consumer Packaged Goods
24	NIKE	18.2	14	23.7	2,745	Apparel
25	Pepsi	18.1	13	13.3	2,200	Beverages
26	American Express	18.0	5	33.8	2,890	Financial Services
27	Nescafe	17.7	2	10.7	-	Beverages
28	L'Oréal	16.9	16	10.6	8,707	Consumer Packaged Goods
29	Marlboro	16.6	9	23.6	483	Tobacco
30	H&M	16.1	12	18.3	-	Retail
31	Hewlett-Packard	15.3	-16	119.9	1,000	Technology
32	HSBC	15.2	0	104.9	-	Financial Services
33	Amazon.Com	14.7	44	60.6	2,000	Technology
34	Visa	14.2	12	10.4	-	Financial Services
35	Siemens	13.7	1	100.6	-	Diversified
36	Facebook	13.7	4	5.1	67	Technology
37	ESPN	12.9	12	10.4	2,500	Media
38	Gucci	12.1	1	4.7	-	Luxury
39	Nestle	11.8	18	11.3	-	Consumer Packaged Goods
40	Frito-Lay	11.6	6	11.1	2,200	Consumer Packaged Goods
41	IKEA	11.5	5	35.5	-	Retail
42	Danone	11.1	13	13.3	-	Consumer Packaged Goods
43	Audi	10.9	1	55.2	-	Automotive
44	Ford	10.6	34	130.0	4,000	Automotive
45	Coach	10.5	1	5.1	103	Luxury
46	Fox	10.2	20	11.7	2,200	Media
47	UPS	10.2	13	54.1	-	Transportation
48	Home Depot	10.1	12	74.8	831	Retail
49	Accenture	9.7	10	30.4	-	Business Services
50	Thomson Reuters	9.6	-10	7.2	-	Media
51	Pampers	9.6	12	10.4	9,300	Consumer Packaged Goods
52	Zara	9.4	11	13.5	-	Retail
53	Hermès	9.3	20	4.5	234	Luxury
54	J.P. Morgan	9.1	-30	43.1	-	Financial Services
55	Kraft	9.1	-10	7.1	640	Consumer Packaged Goods
56	Wells Fargo	9.0	-14	91.2	578	Financial Services
57	Canon	8.7	-11	41.8	998	Technology
58	Kellogg's	8.7	-6	7.1	1,120	Consumer Packaged Goods
59	Ebay	8.5	14	6.3	1,100	Technology
60	Caterpillar	8.5	21	65.9	-	Heavy Equipment
61	Adidas	8.4	23	14.5	-	Apparel
62	Volkswagen	8.1	16	145.7	-	Automotive
63	Nintendo	8.0	-39	7.6	-	Technology
64	Colgate	7.9	7	3.9	1,792	Consumer Packaged Goods
65	Bank of America	7.7	-9	83.3	1,873	Financial Services
66	Shell	7.6	5	467.2	-	Oil & Gas
67	Mastercard	7.4	8	7.4	775	Financial Services
68	Rolex	7.4	14	4.5	-	Luxury
69	Red Bull	7.2	16	6.3	-	Beverages
70	Prada	7.1	23	3.4	193	Luxury
71	Philips	7.1	14	31.9	1,144	Diversified
72	Nokia	7.0	-55	38.8	-	Technology
73	Lexus	7.0	1	18.7	3,970	Automotive
74	Chanel	7.0	13	4.4	-	Luxury
75	Heineken	7.0	7	6.0	-	Alcohol
76	Starbucks	6.9	9	13.0	-	Restaurants
77	Allianz	6.9	5	130.8	-	Financial Services
78	Nissan	6.9	17	108.5	2,749	Automotive
79	Goldman Sachs	6.8	-15	41.7	-	Financial Services
80	Sony	6.6	-20	69.5	4,260	Technology
81	Hyundai	6.5	21	49.7	1,947	Automotive
82	Exxon Mobil	6.4	18	420.7	-	Oil & Gas
83	John Deere	6.4	14	36.2	177	Heavy Equipment
84	Dell	6.4	-23	56.9	833	Technology
85	Boeing	6.4	12	81.7	-	Aerospace
86	Ralph Lauren	6.4	28	6.4	217	Apparel
87	Chase	6.3	-9	56.8	-	Financial Services
88	Lancome	6.2	13	4.0	8,707	Consumer Packaged Goods
89	Santander	6.0	-2	57.3	855	Financial Services
90	Ericsson	5.9	-35	34.6	-	Technology
91	FedEx	5.8	10	44.3	424	Transportation
92	Subway	5.7	17	18.1	-	Restaurants
93	ING	5.7	8	118.7	722	Financial Services
94	Credit Suisse	5.7	-9	42.0	-	Financial Services
95	Porsche	5.7	16	17.8	-	Automotive
96	Heinz	5.6	2	4.4	314	Consumer Packaged Goods
97	AXA	5.6	10	149.3	-	Financial Services
98	MTV	5.6	-7	3.1	1,205	Media
99	Burberry	5.5	13	3.0	-	Luxury
100	Estee Lauder	5.4	15	4.4	2,798	Consumer Packaged Goods

Sources: Thomson Reuters Fundamentals via FactSet Research System; Forbes.

Apple is Now, the World's Most Valuable Company

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Image via CrunchBase

After briefly surpassing Exxon Mobil during Tuesday’s trading day as the world’s most valuable company, Apple took over the number one spot again  yesterday and stayed in the lead for the first time at the close of a trading day.  This change in the overall market value leader prompted me to re-run the world’s 25 most valuable companies now and compare it the top 25 from our 2011 Forbes Global 2000 (published in March). The latest rollercoaster ride in global markets not only put Apple in the driver’s seat, but has shuffled the deck.

Despite the recent downturn on Wall Street, Apple’s stock is up 3% since March while Exxon Mobil is down 17% over the same time period.  Since then, Apple has also seen its latest twelve month sales eclipse the $100 billion mark. The question now is how long will Apple stay at the top.

In the current list of 25 most valuable companies, the market value winners are all Swiss-based companies. Nestlé, Novartis and Roche Holding, saw double-digit growth in market value over the past six months.  Novartis, up 20% and Roche Holding, up 16%, showed the biggest gain in market value and jumped into the elite group of the world’s 25 most valuable companies.  The other newcomer to the list is U.S-based Coca-Cola. The loser of the group is General Electric, falling 12 spots to number 20 after taking a 26% haircut in market value.

Taking a look back at the top 25 from the Global 2000, Brazil’s Petrobas,China Construction Bank and General Electric saw the biggest decline in market value and fall in rank since March, but are still among the current top 25. Russia’s Gazprom, U.S. banks’ JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, fell out of the top 25 with double-digit declines in market value.

The tables below show the both looks at the world’s 25 most valuable companies: now and six months ago with % change in market value and change in rank.

Is This House Really The Most Expensive and Sophisticated House In Nigeria?

Is This House Really The Most Expensive and Sophisticated House In Nigeria?

If this earth is a permanent place or eternal, some people have built themslves paradise on earth but it is not...We all shall one day leave all these and depart naked as we came into this world. For me....True success is to know, fear and fulfill ones purpose here on earth with the gifts and talents which the Most High God has endowed one with and thereby be a blessing to one's generation - Chiugo Anthony Josephat-Nwokolo.... What DoYou Think?

Kim Kardashian Talks "Super, Super Small, Intimate" Wedding With Kanye West, Wants Three Kids

Kim Kardashian Talks "Super, Super Small, 

Intimate" Wedding With Kanye West, Wants

 Three Kids

CELEBRITY NEWS

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Kim Kardashian told Ryan Seacrest that she and Kanye West are scaling back their wedding plans in favor of a "super small, intimate" ceremonyCredit: Marc Piasecki/WireImage

Sounds like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have decided that bigger isn't always better. The couple are scaling back their wedding plans and instead arranging for a "super, super small" ceremony in Paris later this year, the bride-to-be told Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS FM radio show on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

"We're having a super, super small, intimate wedding," she told the Keeping Up With the Kardashians producer. "As we go along, we're realizing we want it to be smaller and more intimate than people are imagining and thinking."

"Small" may be relative, though. After all, West has a tendency toward big gestures, like his epic proposal on Kardashian's 33rd birthday, when he rented out a baseball stadium and invited all of her family and friends -- not to mention an entire orchestra -- to witness their engagement.

"He told me he was actually nervous about proposing, because he was worried you might not say yes," Seacrest told North's mom. 

"I don't know how he could ever think that!" she replied. "I believe in his heart, he knew I'd say yes. I mean, we have a child together, we have loved each other a really long time, and I think it's the right time."

Indeed, things seem to be going swimmingly for the couple, who welcomed little Nori last June. "I'm loving life right now," Kardashian told Seacrest. "My daughter is the cutest thing ever...I'm loving being a mom.

"I never thought I would say that. I went into this so scared -- so scared of every last thing pregnancy meant, and motherhood, and the responsibility," she confessed. "And everything everyone tells you about having a kid -- how it'll change your life, and it's the greatest experience, and you'll love it -- it's that times 100."

"She's the sweetest, she's the calmest," she added of Nori. "All she does is laugh. She'll laugh at anything. I'll put my toe right near her, and she'll crack up. She's the sweetest, happiest baby I've ever seen."

Eventually, she said, she'd like to give North a sibling or two -- but no more than that. "I don't think I can do more than three tops. That would be my absolute top top tops," she admitted. I even contemplate, 'Should North be an only child?' But then I contemplate all the...fun experiences I had, so I might have to tough it out."

Her nephew, for one, is hoping the next kid is a boy. "I was talking to [Kourtney's son] Mason about it the other day, and he was like, 'Can you make a boy? I need a friend to play with,'" Kardashian recalled. "And I was like, 'Let me think about that!'" 

culled from US Weekly

Angela Jolie's Charity Trip To Lebanon Shows Love To Syrian Refugee Children

Angelina Jolie makes surprise humanitarian trip to Lebanon

True Success is measured by how many lives one affects positively and that is what Angela Jolie does.

      

Angela Jolie has made a surprise trip to Lebanon to visit Syrian refugee children and draw attention to the massive displacement Syria's three-year conflict has created. True Success is measured by how many lives one affects positively and that is what Angela Jolie does.

During her three-day visit, the Oscar-winning actress met unaccompanied children living in the eastern Bekaa Valley, where many of the poorest Syrian refugees in Lebanon reside.

"Lebanon, as you know, has the highest concentration of refugees of any country in the world in recent history; it is an extraordinary thing and we must do all what we can to support them," said the United Nations Refugee Agency Special Envoy.

Photo: © Getty Images

"I spent time in the Bekaa Valley recently with Syrian refugees and they are very grateful to the people of Lebanon, they are clearly very traumatised from what has happened to them in Syria," the 38-year-old added.

The Hollywood actress and UN special envoy also met with the prime minister of Lebanon, the tiny Mediterranean country which neighbours Syria, Tammam Salam.

The meeting was to call on the international community to ensure the implementation of a recent U.N. resolution that called for humanitarian assistance to reach Syrian civilians, as well as to thank Lebanon for hosting nearly one million refugees, which has increased the small country's population by one fifth.

Photo: © Rex

Angelina speaking during a news conference after meeting with Lebanon's Prime Minister Tammam Salam

On Saturday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution dem anding immediate access everywhere in Syria for humanitarian aid.

'Meeting these children was a heart-rending experience,' said Angelina in a statement issued via the U.N.

'They have lost their families and their childhood has been hijacked by war. They are so young, yet they are bearing the burdens of their reality as if they are adults.'
culled from Hello Magazine

2 Leadership Traits Needed to Become a Great Leader

2 Leadership Traits Needed to Become a Great Leader

Brian Tracy

The great Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, once said that there are three types of people: the people who make things happen, the people who watch what’s happening, and the people who haven’t the slightest idea of what’s happening. Today, as never before, our society is experiencing a pressing need for great leadership.

This need for leadership can be felt in our homes, in our business organizations, in our private and public associations, and in our government. We need great leadership more than ever before. And we especially need great leadership to take us into the future. We need people who have key leadership traits, they have a vision, courage, and the ability to chart new seas and break new ground.

Two Types of Leadership Traits

Leadership is the single most important factor in the success or failure of any business. Leaders are primarily self-made . . . they continually work to improve their skills and become more capable. In order to be successful in business, we need great leaders with two types of leadership traits.

1.      The first type of leader that we need is the transformational leader. This leader is a pathfinder, a visionary. These types of leadership traits motivate, uplift, inspire, and empower people to perform at levels far beyond anything they’ve ever done before.

2.      The second type of leader we need is perhaps the most important or foundational. They are the transactional leader. The transactional leader is the person who gets things done with and through others.

Great leaders use their leadership traits to motivate, inspire, and build a high performance team. Download my FREE report and leadership questionnaire to learn the types of leadership traits you desire by using the 7 Responsibilities of Leadership!

What is Great Leadership?

One of the major reasons that people go to work for any organization is because of the leadership. So what exactly is great leadership? Two excellent definitions of leadership apply especially to business organizations. The first one is: Great Leadership is the ability to elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary people. Another definition is: Great Leadership is the ability to get followers.

Leaders Are Made, Not Born

Leaders are made, not born. Nobody comes into the world as a natural leader. A person becomes a leader by, first of all, deciding to become a leader, and second of all, by learning the skills necessary to “elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary people.” Along a continuum of personalities at the very bottom are people who haven‘t the slightest idea about what is going on.

Then at the very top are those 1 or 2 percent of people in our society who really are the spark plugs in the engines of change. Every one of us is on that scale somewhere, moving up or down depending upon the things that we are doing and saying on a daily basis. You are what you think you are. Your self-concept determines your performance. You can become a much more effective leader by changing your self-concept, by changing the way you think about yourself as a leader.

Select Leadership Traits to Emulate

The starting point of developing great leadership traits is to begin thinking about the leaders you know, who you admire, and then to think about how you could emulate their behaviors. Think about the types of leadership that you could develop. In no time at all, you will actually begin to imitate their qualities and behaviors, and become a better leader yourself.

All great leaders were at one time good followers. All great leaders at one time worked closely with other successful leaders and learned from them and emulated their behaviors. The study of great leaders of the past and present is one of the fastest and surest ways to develop leadership traits and qualities. The more you study what constitutes great leadership, the more likely you will be to internalize the same values and behaviors. These values and behaviors will then be externalized in your actions and in your results.

Timeless Leadership Qualities

Today we find that the only lasting type of leadership is one that does not come from position, or from money or authority. It is what we call ascribed leadership, which occurs when people decide for themselves that they are going to follow the direction, the guidance, and the vision of someone else. In other words, it is a voluntary form of following that marks great leadership today. Great leaders have great leadership qualities and leadership traits that lift up and inspire people to achieve the same mission.

If you’re ready to see yourself as a powerful and successful leader, I’d like to tell you about my book, “How the Best Leaders Lead,” and the special bonus package I’ve created to complement it.