Coca-Cola has long been recognized as the world's most valuable brand. Its current value: $55 billion. Alas, the Coca-Cola brand is not what it once was-its value has declined 4 percent annually over the past four years, and the stock has seen a corresponding 9 percent decline.
Are there any hot brands poised to challenge Coca-Cola's title as the most valuable brand?
For the sixth installment in our Beyond the Balance Sheet series, we turned to New York marketing consultants Vivaldi Partners. They began their study by surveying chief marketing officers and consumers, asking them to identify brands they felt were both growing fast and being innovative.
Next Vivaldi screened for brand-owning companies that beat their peers in earnings growth. Vivaldi valued the remaining 40 brands using a discounted cash flow model that also factored in the percentage of the business being driven by the brand. The brands whose values increased the most within their respective industries during the past four years are identified in the table.