Thomas C. Frohlich and Michael B. Sauter

24/7 Wall Street

Brands seem to be part of all aspects of life. Celebrating uniqueness -- a core element of any brand -- is a greater part of the American experience than ever before, and this has extended to the newest major space for brand development: the internet. Corporations recognize the rising importance of developing a powerful online identity in the era of 24/7 access through computers and smartphones. Successful ones use social media, advertising, and digital marketing effectively to solidify their names and products in the minds of consumers.

It can be hard to precisely measure the full value of a high-quality brand, but they are essential to a successful global corporation. Enormous amounts of time and energy are devoted to brand image by businesses around the world not just digitally but through all available channels.

24/7 Wall Street reviewed Interbrand’s report, Best Global Brands 2018, in which the brand consultant group, a subsidiary of advertising conglomerate Omnicom, evaluates global brands based on a range of factors, including: how well a brand is known, how well it is regarded, and how much it contributes to the parent company’s financial success.

The world’s most valuable brands are the faces of corporate giants with hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. Such logos include the McDonald's arches, the Apple apple icon, the Amazon “A” and, of course, the iconic landing pages of companies that have become in some ways synonymous with the internet itself -- Google and Facebook. All of these brands are daily sightings and experiences for countless people around the world.

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The value and visibility of a brand generally track with a company’s long-term financial performance (to be considered by Interbrand, companies needed to be profitable). But the two measurements are not the same, nor are companies and brands interchangeable terms. The parent companies of Google and Coca-Cola, for example, each own dozens of other brands not necessarily included in Interbrand’s assessment.

24/7 Wall Street listed the 25 most valuable global corporate brands, based on Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2018 report. Brand valuation figures are calculated by Interbrand. Corporate annual revenue figures are from the most recent available annual report of the brand’s parent company. Average company salary figures are based on averages from Payscale, a compensation data company. Share price changes are based on the five-year percent change, as obtained from Yahoo Finance. In the case of foreign companies, stock performance or average pay was based on American divisions of these companies, whenever possible.

25. Zara

• Brand value: $17.71 billion

• Annual revenue: $29.12 billion

• Average company salary: $44,000

• 5-year stock price change: N/A

The value of Zara's apparel brand dropped 5 percent in Interbrand's ranking to $17.7 billion.

24. American Express

• Brand value: $19.14 billion

• Annual revenue: $27.03 billion

• Average company salary: $86,000

• 5-year stock price change: +44.99 percent

The only financial services company on this list, the American Express brand is worth about $19.1 billion -- up 8 percent from last year's Interbrand ranking.

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23. Chanel

• Brand value: $20.00 billion

• Annual revenue: $9.6 billion

• Average company salary: $77,000

• 5-year stock price change: N/A

Juggernaut corporations like Google and Amazon continue to set the tone for the entire brand landscape, making competing for the attention of consumers all the more difficult. Chanel is perhaps an exception -- it is the only brand that has never appeared before on Interbrand's top brands list.

22. Pepsi

• Brand value: $20.80 billion

• Annual revenue: $63.53 billion

• Average company salary: $73,000

• 5-year stock price change: +33.85 percent

As is the case in many sectors, a few companies dominate the beverage business in the United States. Pepsi and Coca-Cola continue to be the nation's soda giants. However, while Pepsi's brand is valued far lower than Coca-Cola's, its annual revenue of $63.5 billion in fiscal 2017 far exceeds Coca-Cola's $35.4 billion revenue.

21. SAP

• Brand value: $22.89 billion

• Annual revenue: $28.2 billion

• Average company salary: $97,000

• 5-year stock price change: +82.66 percent

Subscription-based service companies have in recent years outpaced other business categories in brand value. Technology company SAP is one such company, providing security software and other services to its clients.

20. Honda

• Brand value: $23.68 billion

• Annual revenue: $135.04 billion

• Average company salary: $69,000

• 5-year stock price change: -24.15 percent

After companies in the technology sector, automotive companies appear most frequently among the 25 most valuable brands. Honda had revenue of $135.0 billion in its fiscal 2017, making it one of the world's biggest companies in any industry.

19. Oracle

• Brand value: $26.13 billion

• Annual revenue: $39.83 billion

• Average company salary: $94,000

• 5-year stock price change: +49.74 percent

Oracle's brand value dropped 5 percent to $26.1 billion in Interbrand's latest ranking, but the technology company remains among the most valuable brands in the world.

18. Louis Vuitton

• Brand value: $28.15 billion

• Annual revenue: $49.02 billion

• Average company salary: $75,000

• 5-year stock price change: +94.21 percent

The value of the Louis Vuitton brand shot up 23 percent last year, one of the more impressive increases in Interbrand's analysis.

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17. Nike

• Brand value: $30.12 billion

• Annual revenue: $34.35 billion

• Average company salary: $85,000

• 5-year stock price change: +124.09 percent

A significant portion of Nike's brand value spike of 11 percent can be attributed to the launch of its controversial Colin Kaepernick advertising campaign. According to Interbrand, this single event translated to a rise in Nike's stock market value of $6 billion.

16. GE

• Brand value: $32.76 billion

• Annual revenue: $122.09 billion

• Average company salary: $92,000

• 5-year stock price change: -45.70 percent

With annual revenue of $122.1 billion, GE is one of the world's largest corporations. While its brand also remains one of the world's most valuable, Interbrand lowered it by 26 percent from 2017 -- one of the largest brand value drops.

15. Cisco

• Brand value: $34.58 billion

• Annual revenue: $48.00 billion

• Average company salary: $104,000

• 5-year stock price change: +112.03 percent

Cisco Systems is among the well-represented technology brands on this list. Founded in 1984, the computer networking company is also one of the older technology firms.

14. Disney

• Brand value: $39.87 billion

• Annual revenue: $55.14 billion

• Average company salary: $80,000

• 5-year stock price change: +76.36 percent

Disney is one of the nation's most beloved and well-recognized companies, with its brand introduced to many Americans in the early years of childhood. With its brand value down 2 percent and with subscription streaming services like Netflix on the rise, Disney may have serious brand competition in coming years.

13. BMW

• Brand value: $41.00 billion

• Annual revenue: $113.46 billion

• Average company salary: $89,000

• 5-year stock price change: N/A

BMW's revenue of $113.5 billion makes it one of the world's largest companies. Its brand is also among the most valuable, worth approximately $41.0 billion.

12. IBM

• Brand value: $42.97 billion

• Annual revenue: $79.14 billion

• Average company salary: $93,000

• 5-year stock price change: -19.56 percent

The value of a brand might be expected to rise with its visibility. Such logos as McDonald's arches, Apple's apple icon, and Amazon's "A" are seen daily by millions of people. IBM is perhaps less common in this regard. It has focused heavily on innovation in recent decades, and received over 9,000 patents in 2017, more than any other U.S. company. In fact, IBM has been a patent leader for the last 25 years.

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11. Intel

• Brand value: $43.29 billion

• Annual revenue: $62.76 billion

• Average company salary: $97,000

• 5-year stock price change: +108.44 percent

Intel is best known as a manufacturer of processors and semiconductors for use in personal computers and business operations. The company continues to thrive as the world becomes increasingly technologically dependent. Intel's annual profits have averaged around $10 billion per year in each of the last three years.

10. McDonald's

• Brand value: $43.42 billion

• Annual revenue: $22.82 billion

• Average company salary: $52,000

• 5-year stock price change: +75.96 percent

McDonald's has maintained its dominance as the world's most popular fast food chain for decades. While it has fine-tuned its menu to adjust for changing tastes, including adding salads and other healthier foods, as well as a popular line of coffee, the company's success comes from its brand recognition and the popularity of the same items it has had on its menu for years. McDonald's employs over 230,000 people worldwide.

9. Facebook

• Brand value: $45.17 billion

• Annual revenue: $40.65 billion

• Average company salary: $117,000

• 5-year stock price change: +213.11 percent (Since IPO)

Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook is used all over the world. At last count, the company had over 2.2 billion users, or about 30 percent of the world's population. Facebook has continued to ensure its success by purchasing social media and messaging companies like WhatsApp and Instagram.

8. Mercedes-Benz

• Brand value: $48.60 billion

• Annual revenue: $188.89 billion

• Average company salary: $71,000.

• 5-year stock price change: -4.22 percent

The Mercedes-Benz brand has been around for over 90 years, but the company's history goes back even further, to the earliest days of the automobile. Today, the German company is one of the most prestigious names in luxury automobiles, selling over 300,000 cars in the U.S. in 2017.

7. Toyota

• Brand value: $53.40 billion

• Annual revenue: $258.24 billion

• Average company salary: $92,000

• 5-year stock price change: -4.4 percent

Toyota is one of the largest and most successful automakers in the world, selling over 10 million vehicles each year. In the United States, the Japanese company has been able to rely on the popularity of long-running brands like the Camry and the Corolla.

6. Samsung

• Brand value: $59.89 billion

• Annual revenue: $211.40 billion

• Average company salary: $92,000

• 5-year stock price change: N/A

After Apple introduced its iPhone back in 2007, it appeared the company would come to completely dominate the phone market. But Korean company Samsung pushed back, and thanks to the success of products like the Galaxy phones, Samsung is actually now the global leader in smartphone sales as of the first quarter of 2018.

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5. Coca-Cola

• Brand value: $66.34 billion

• Annual revenue: $35.41 billion

• Average company salary: $75,000

• 5-year stock price change: +23.4 percent

Coca-Cola is today one of the most popular beverages on the planet. According to its latest annual report, of the 60 billion servings of beverages consumed worldwide every day, Coca-Cola-owned brands accounted for about 2 billion.

4. Microsoft

• Brand value: $92.72 billion

• Annual revenue: $89.95 billion

• Average company salary: $117,000

• 5-year stock price change: +227.6 percent

U.S. giants dominate every corner of the tech sector, and each still has its niche. While Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon are the respective leaders in phones, search, social, and retail, Microsoft is the leader in software. The company, founded in 1975, is visible worldwide through its MSN brand and Windows operating system. Some estimates put the number of PCs with Windows at over 1 billion.

3. Amazon

• Brand value: $100.76 billion

• Annual revenue: $177.87 billion

• Average company salary: $100,000

• 5-year stock price change: +486.0 percent

Amazon is one of the world's most valuable brands and also this year's fastest growing, with brand value growth of 56 percent. According to Interbrand, in an increasingly service-driven economy, the top-performing brands continue to be those offering the best access to products and services. No company has adopted this approach more successfully or widely than Amazon.

2. Google

• Brand value: $155.50 billion

• Annual revenue: $110.86 billion

• Average company salary: $113,000

• 5-year stock price change: +128.6 percent

While Google trails Apple in brand value, the tech giant's reach and impact on society is unrivaled. With little resistance from regulators, Google has over the years approached monopoly status in multiple markets. The world's biggest video platform, YouTube, the world's most widely adopted smartphone software, Android, and one of the world's largest distributors of advertising, DoubleClick, are all owned by Google -- to name just a few.

1. Apple

• Brand value: $214.48 billion

• Annual revenue: $229.23 billion

• Average company salary: $121,000

• 5-year stock price change: +225.6 percent

In this year's Interbrand ranking, Apple is far and away the leader, with brand value of $214.48 billion. Multiple brands have thrived in recent years by offering more luxury products. Apple, which is able to price its phones at nearly $1,000 and still sell millions every month, continues to dominate the premium end of the smartphone and technology markets.

24/7 Wall Street is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.