Which brands did recession hurt most?

Along with the collapse of the world's largest financial systems, and subsequent economic crisis, came substantial damage to consumer confidence. Shoppers put down their credit cards, sacrificed the big brands and made-do with less expensive products such as 'supermarket-own brands'. With consumers cutting back on unnecessary purchases on a scale not seen since the Great Depression, which brands suffered the most as a result?

According to the Business Week/Interbrand 2009 Best Global Brands Study, published today, it is, unsurprisingly some might say, financial brands that have taken the biggest beating with some companies, like Citi and UBS, seeing their values halve.

American Express is the most 'successful' financial brand in the list at No.22 (having fallen from No. 15 in the past 12 months), but it still saw its value drop by 32 percent.

In comparison, Citi tumbled from No.19 to No.36, whilst UBS dropped massively from No.41 to No.72 after losing 50 percent of its value.

The automotive industry was also hit hard, with the recent success of "cash-for-clunkers"-like schemes failing to offset the huge losses suffered initially. Harley Davidson was worst hit, losing 43 percent of its brand value to drop from No. 50 in the list to No. 73. General Motors did not make the list due to it trading under different brands, but companies that had performed better than most, such as Toyota, Ford and Honda still saw loses.

Interbrand's chairman, Rita Clifton said, "The automotive industry hasn't had the happiest of years, which will come as no surprise to anyone. All of them want to be the one that emerges harder and faster from the recession.

"Toyota is spending on the hybrid models, which cast a halo over the whole brand, so what's interesting is not just how much they are spending but where they are spending it."

Coca-Cola came out on top, with a 3 percent increase taking its value to US$68.7 billion. The other brands making up the top five were IBM, Microsoft, GE and Nokia, but generally the top 10 brands were the same as last year.

Mcdonald's also did well, making a move up the ranks from eighth to sixth switching places with struggling Toyota. But some of the largest growth was seen by Google, bolstered by a 25 percent growth in its brand value taking it to seventh place.

Interbrand CEO said, "You can't look at this year's study without putting it through the filter of the recession.

"What the recession has generated is a genuine reset across entire markets."

Still, Bateman said that the decline in brand value was "much slower and at a lower rate than the overall market decline."

"A brand has an insulating effect, because brands generate a lot less risk and generate a lot more loyalty," he added. "It will insulate you in the downtime."

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