西部落：如何打造响当当的品牌?

Google, Starbucks and Motorola, they are all brands easily recognizable around the world and getting even more so according to a new survey of the top 100 global brands. Of All, tech companies seem to be gaining dominance, Coca Cola still holds the number 1 spot. Microsoft is number 2, and IBM comes in at number 3. BusinessWeek and Interbrands team up annually¹ to determine these rankings, and joining us now to discuss them is Interbrands' Chief Executive John Allert.

John, thanks for being here. Very briefly², what is the criteria³?

The criteria is that we need brands that have strong franchise⁴ with consumers, but importantly, businesses underlying⁵ those brands that have very large amounts of revenue.

Large amounts of revenue, so basically you look at, dah, numerically, and just the, the list unfolds?

Well, it's a combination of numerical factors and, and more soft marketing⁶ factors, so we look at the degree of resonance⁷ that the consumers have with a particular brand proposition, and that allows us to actually discount from an entire group of earnings⁸, how many of those earnings are attributable to the brand?

Let's, let's take a look at some of these. Coca Cola, for instance, because it's, it is more than just a brand. I think for a lot of people, it almost has a certain nostalgia⁹.

Yeah, look, Coke is, uh, Coke is obviously famous for a proposition around refreshment¹⁰. What Coke's been able to do very cleverly is, is take that through generations, but also take it through different ethnographies and through different market demographics. So the people all around the world buy into the Coke proposition.

Microsoft, a lot of people, of course, hate Microsoft, you know, because they feel that it's, you know, monopolistic and so on and so forth¹¹. Yet, it runs most of the software for computers (Well, Micr..) or has the software that runs most of computers.

Mi, Microsoft is a good lesson and I'm not sure whether people hate Microsoft, I mean Microsoft is great.

Well, a percentage of people do, I mean, you know, (Of course, of course) a lot of anti-competitive practices and so forth. I am not expressing an opinion here, but, you know, talk to somebody who has an Apple computer for instance.

Sure, as I have had. Microsoft actually has a fantastic product underneath¹² its brand, and, and of course without a fantastic product you can't build a valuable brand. Er, and we've seen that through, uh, through some of the great er, rises in the table this year with, with the likes of eBay which has a fantastic product, the likes of Google which has a fantastic product.

It really does come down to the functionality of the product.

Well, it's not just the functionality, it's about delivering on the promise and, and brands obviously, uh, are promoted to build a promise to consumers and, and if they continuously deliver on that promise, people will go back again and again, er, and build loyalty¹⁴ with those brands.

Why do you think some companies've been so successful at, at building a brand, be it Coca cola, Microsoft, Google, Starbucks which is another one of your top er, names, and some aren't able to do it.

Well, I guess product, as I said, is, is critical, but a number of these, a number of these brand markets have been around for a long long time.

Let, let me, let me just go back, you say product is critical. Now, Starbucks would say their coffee is certainly different than what you'll get er, from one of the competitors. But the basic coffee is not that different, so there is some atmosphere that's also created or some perception that's created that makes people want to buy this brand.

Sure, I, I guess, what I, I mean by product is that is an entry-level criteria. If you don't have a good product, you can't build a strong brand. So in, in the case of Starbucks, what they have been able to do is build an emotional base on top of that product that people have brought into and understand Starbucks has been something more than just functional¹³ coffee.

John Allert, chief executive of Interbrands, as always, thanks for your answers.

Pleasure, Todd.

1. demographics:n.人口统计资料(如年龄、性别、收入等等)

1 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

2 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

3 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

4 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

5 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

8 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

9 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

10 refreshment   

n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点

参考例句：

• He needs to stop fairly often for refreshment.他须时不时地停下来喘口气。
• A hot bath is a great refreshment after a day's work.在一天工作之后洗个热水澡真是舒畅。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

13 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

14 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。