Branding

WPP‘s Millward Brown has released its seventh annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands Study and, shocking to no one, Apple tops the list. The brand is now valued at $182.9 billion. IBM has moved into the number two spot, ahead of Google. And McDonald’s is at number four, the only non-tech company to break the top five. (Facebook entered the top 20 at number 19, just below Amazon.)

Interestingly, Marlboro is at number seven, rising from number eight last year. It beat out AT&T and Verizon to round out the top 10. The total value of the top 100 is $2.4 trillion.

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Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

Marketwire has revealed a new logo, website, and tagline — “Beyond Words” — which is meant to speak to the company’s growth, expansion, and evolution over the past 30 years.

More than aesthetics and a corporate motto, Marketwire also revamped its product offering categories, which takes into account the company’s 2010 acquisition of Sysomos and changing communications needs. Marketwire MAP (Media Analysis Platform) offers social media research, and demographic and influencer information; Marketwire Heartbeat is for monitoring; Marketwire Distribute handles press release services; and Marketwire Resonate brings it all together in one platform.

The rebranding cuts across the company’s social media pages as well. After the jump, a short clip about the rebrand.

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Since her debut in 2010, we’ve gotten to know T-Mobile’s spokeswoman Carly Foulkes as the effervescent, pink-wearing promoter of T-Mobile goodness. For the latest ads, T-Mobile has turned her into a biker chick, doing away with the floaty dresses and putting her in a leather outfit and helmet.

T-Mobile’s SVP of brand, advertising, and comms tells Mashable that the ad is meant to convey the company’s status as a “challenger brand.”

“The makeover from the girl-next-door to an edgier, more tech-savvy and spirited Carly is synonymous with the evolution of the T-Mobile brand,” he says.

Jezebel, who isn’t a fan of the Foulkes to begin with, isn’t buying it.

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A Burger King commercial that featured Grammy-winning R&B star Mary J. Blige has been pulled just a few days after it had been posted on YouTube. In the ad, Blige brought her usual style and amazing voice to the top of a Burger King dining table to croon about crispy chicken. We saw it yesterday and were kind of speechless. Actually we let out a huge “What!” and then sent it to friends. There were a lot of “SMH”s sent in reply.

Within the past hour, media outlets started to notice that the ad has been pulled from YouTube, though you can watch it here. Prior to being pulled, the ad had received a good deal of backlash, some who thought the ad reinforced negative stereotypes about African Americans, but many more who expressed shock and/or sadness that someone like Mary would sing one of her hit songs for chicken. A BK rep tells Ad Age that the ad has been pulled in order to iron out some music licensing issues. File the whole thing under wrong celebrity, wrong brand.

But what exactly is the Burger King brand these days? They don’t know. We don’t know. And fewer people are buying the food.

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Brands and celebrities go together like peanut butter and jelly. My Love Affair, a London-based firm, works to bring the two together in a harmonious and delicious sandwich.

Founded by former Omnicom Media France MD Raphaël Aflalo and Cathy Guetta, wife of music superstar David Guetta, the firm has been around since 2011 and has worked with clients including Chanel, LVMH, and HP. The firm has six employees, a second office in Paris, and business dealings around the world. The company announced in October 2011 that it had hired 5WPR for outreach here in the U.S.

In today’s Q&A, Cathy Guetta talks with us about the firm, its latest partnership, and what it really means to be a “celebrity.”

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Gemesis has just launched its e-commerce site, which will make it easy for consumers to purchase one or more of its “lab-created” diamonds. Jewels that many people would label fakes.

However, the company is proudly touting the value of these unnatural gems. The company is quick to point out that the quality of its diamonds are “equal to the best quality mined diamonds.” Moreover, they say their diamonds are “all certified as Type IIa,” a rare marker for mined diamonds.

And perhaps, most importantly given a recent BBMG Conscious Consumer Report, these gems are sustainable and conflict-free.

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Now that all 67 NCAA basketball games will be live streamed and available on computers, iPhones, iPads, and some Android phones for $3.99, the next logical question is: How are you going to watch your least favorite team get the stuffing beat out of it while you’re at work?

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With the Facebook Marketing Conference set to take place tomorrow, speculation about what will be discussed is feverish. Many think that Facebook Timeline for Businesses will be on the agenda. (An outline of what to expect is available on AllFacebook.)

Facebook Timeline offers brands a new set of opportunities that they and their PR firms should be eager to take advantage of. In today’s guest post, Jared Degnan, social media and digital manager of Brandware Public Relations, outlines how the Timeline feature can be used for maximum benefit to brands.

Click through to read on.

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FTI Consulting made its Q4 2011 earnings announcement on Friday, with its Strategic Communications area showing a slight dip in revenue. However, for the year, there was an increase.

Q4 2011 ended with revenue totaling $49.2 million, a decrease from $49.9 million year-over-year. However, revenue for the year was at $200.9 million, an increase from $193.2 million in 2010. FTI’s Strategic Communications area was previously Financial Dynamics.

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The Associated Press will roll out a new visual identity system, including an updated logo, this year. The identity system is the first significant change in AP’s look in 30 years and follows the development and implementation of a master-brand strategy in 2010.

“Visual identity system”? “Master-brand strategy”? Why are they talking like that?

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