Google named Most Influential Brand in the United States.

Apple is innovative, Walmart has presence, Facebook is engaging, but if you want to know what the most influential brand in the United States is, turn to Google. No, not to ask the question, but rather, it is Google itself that is the Most Influential Brand in the United States. This seemingly all-encompassing Internet entity has topped the list in the recently revealed findings of a new study conducted by Ipsos called The Most Influential Brands in the United States 2013.

In the study, Ipsos asked Americans from coast to coast to rate 100 leading brands on a wide variety of attributes. The data revealed a number of dimensions which define influence and determine the most influential brands in the lives of Americans. As unveiled by Ipsos, the five dimensions that drive a brand’s influence are: Engagement; Trustworthy; Leading Edge; Corporate Citizenship; and, Presence.

“To one extent or another, the most successful brands have some measure of all these dimensions, but gaining real and lasting influence takes time and effort,” says Jerry Forristal, Senior Vice President with Ipsos MarketQuest in New York. “Brands have to work hard to build their name and when it actually exercises influence over our daily lives and our daily decisions, you know that brand has done its work.”

As determined by Forristal and his team of researchers at Ipsos MarketQuest, the ten Most Influential Brands in the United States for 2013 are as follows:

1. Google
2. Amazon
3. Apple
4. Microsoft
5. Facebook
6. Visa
7. Walmart
8. Yahoo!
9. Procter & Gamble (P&G)
10. eBay

Technology, media and web-based brands dominate list, demonstrating the increasing influence these sectors have in the daily lives of Americans. The list further highlights the growing convergence of these sectors, as companies such as Microsoft, Google and Apple continue to blur the lines between media and technology, while eBay and Amazon have taken retail to the web.

“It shouldn’t come as any surprise that these types of companies claim seven of the top ten spots on our list,” says Forristal. “Our daily lives are infused with the integration of web, technology and media and these brands allow us to access, gather and share information with tremendous ease. That in turn helps to influence our daily decisions. And with the proliferation of smartphones, tablets and similar mobile devices, we’re able to take these brands and their influence almost everywhere we go.”

Google is Global

While these are the top indicators and top brands in the United States, Ipsos took the study further by studying and measuring which global brands influence the lives of people in countries all over the world. Using the same approach as the U.S. study, Ipsos surveyed consumers in eight other markets: Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, and China. Including the U.S., these nine markets represent more than half of the world’s economy. And once again, Google took the top spot, ranking as the Most Influential Brand in the World.

The complete Ipsos top ten list of the Most Influential Brands in the World is as follows:

1. Google
2. Microsoft
3. Apple
4. Facebook
5. Visa
6. Coca-Cola
7. Samsung
8. YouTube
9. MasterCard
10. Procter & Gamble (P&G)

“Building a truly influential brand requires a significant time investment, and in the past fifteen years, Google has done something truly phenomenal – they’ve built a brand that exerts global influence,” concludes Forristal.

For more information at http://www.ipsos.com