By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Samsung, Hyundai Motor and LG are the most powerful Korean brands, while Coca Cola retained the No. 1 position globally for the seventh consecutive year, according to a list of top 100 brands surveyed by Interbrand.
Samsung Electronics led the Korean firms at 21st place with an estimated brand value of $16.8 billion. Hyundai Motor climbed by three notches from last year to 72nd place, and LG Electronics found itself at 97th place.
Samsung, the largest company in South Korea by revenue and market capitalization, gained 4 percent in its brand value from last year. It was the third highest Asian company on the list after Toyota, 6th, and Honda, 19th. But the Interbrand researchers said that the outlook for the electronics giant may not be that bright.
``Samsung is the leader in LCD panels and now No. 2 in mobile phones. But last quarter's results were tepid and next year could be tougher,'' the report said.
Hyundai Motor posted a 9-percent gain in its brand value from last year to $4.4 billion. ``Having improved the quality and reliability of its cars, Hyundai is pushing to go upscale by introducing premium models,'' the report said. LG also saw a 3-percent gain to $3.1 billion, though it slipped three steps from a year ago.
Among the top 100, 53 were American firms. Germany had 10 brands led by carmakers Mercedes Benz and BMW. France and Japan had eight each.
Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM and GE remained as the top four most influential brands. Nokia, Toyota, Intel, McDonald's, Disney and Mercedes-Benz followed in the top tier of the list.
Sony, Samsung's Japanese rival in the consumer electronics sector, was placed at 25th.
Big gainers of the year included firms like Google (from 24th to 20th), Apple (from 39th to 33rd), Nintendo (from 51st to 44th) and Zara (from 73rd to 64th).
The list only counts international brands with publicly available marketing and financial data. The brands are valued on the basis of how much it is likely to earn for the company in the future.