Vodafone, HSBC and Tesco lead UK brand charge

The world's five most powerful brands, according to analysts Brand Finance, are all from the US – Google, Coca-Cola, IBM, and Microsoft following leader Wal Mart. Wal Mart's brand value registered at $41.37bn in 2010.

Goggle's rise continues apace, jumping from number five to number two, leapfrogging Coca-Cola, which used to head up the list regularly. Google's rival Microsoft fell one place, as did IBM.

The UK brands were headed up by Vodafone, charting at number seven, up from eight the year before and with a brand value of $29bn.  

The UK phone giant swapped places with HSBC – whose brand allure was perhaps hit by the banking crisis. 

Yet Spanish financial company Santander enjoyed a stunning performance, jumping from 41 to number 12.

Tesco surged four places from 20 to 16, ahead of the likes of Apple, McDonald's and Walt Disney.

Toyota's recent woes, which saw millions of its models being recalled, were too late to impact this year's list and the Japanese car-maker remained level in tenth spot.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk