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To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (63494)	6/21/1999 9:01:00 AM
From: Mark Fowler	Respond to of 164684

If S&P can push through 1356 and onto 1360 it'll look good!!

To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (63494)	6/22/1999 1:58:00 AM
From: GST	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Glenn -- comparing internet brands -- AOl, AMZN then YHOO. Tuesday June 22, 1:00 am Eastern Time Companies urged to work harder on brands-survey By David Cowell LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - Leading brand consultancy Interbrand Newell and Sorrell on Tuesday hailed Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - news), Gillette (NYSE:G - news) and Louis Vuitton as the top profit-earning brands in the world but condemned many companies for not working hard enough to enhance the brands in their care. ''Shareholders should start asking management questions about brands and the processes used to evaluate their performance,'' said Interbrand director of brand valuation Raymond Perrier at the launch of the agency's first wide-ranging league table of global brands. "Currently companies give very little genuine information about brand value and yet for many it is their single most important asset. ''Chief executives need to recognise they have the lead role in managing their corporate brand as the way to deliver long-term shareholder value. That's too important a task to delegate down the organisation,'' Perrier said. Coca-Cola led as 10 U.S. companies took the first 10 places in the rankings, followed by Microsoft Corp (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), IBM (NYSE:IBM - news), General Electric (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: GEC.L) and Ford (NYSE:F - news). Finland's mobile phone giant Nokia was the top-ranking European company in the league table, occupying 11th place, followed by Mercedes, part of DaimlerChrysler (NYSE:DCX - news)(quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: DCXGn.F), and Nestle's Nescafe brand in 13th place. The accolade for Coca-Cola came despite the biggest recall in the company's history following a major European health scare. Last week, hundreds of people in Belgium and France reported stomach pains, nausea and dizziness blamed on the company's drinks. Products in Spain were also withdrawn from sale. Interbrand said the table of the world's top 60 brands did not include high-profile products such as privately-owned Levi's, Mars confectionery or Lego because of a lack of information. Businesses such as CNN and Time were excluded because they were incorporated within the TimeWarner Group (NYSE:TWX - news) and VISA, the Red Cross and the BBC did not figure because they were non-profit brands. Interbrand said its calculations, based on a brand's geographic reach, profile in major market sectors and financial transparency, showed that some companies relied heavily on brand perception for their success. The brand value of Nike (NYSE:NKE - news), BMW (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BMWG.F) and Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) represented 77 percent of each company's market capitalisation, the top rating. ''These companies have been able to exploit maximum shareholder value from the management of a single brand,'' said Perrier. ''However, given the dependence on one brand, investors should closely monitor the management of these brands and their values. Severe damage to these brands would have significant impact on the stock market value of the businesses.'' The high rating compared to 59 percent for Coke, 21 percent for Microsoft and 14 percent for Japanese automaker Toyota . Interbrand said the presence in the top 10 brands of Microsoft, Disney (NYSE:DIS - news) and AT&T (NYSE:T - news) reflected the growth in the number of companies which regarded themselves more as relationship businesses than as product businesses. ''In a world of rapid technological change where product leadership is quickly eroded, companies such as Nokia are using branding to create a stronger emotional relationship with the company beyond the product in the consumer's hand,'' said Perrier. Interbrand, part of the world's biggest advertising and communications group Omnicom Group Inc (NYSE:OMC - news), said the table contained few new brands and cautioned about the strength of Internet businesses. It ranked AOL (NYSE:AOL - news), Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) and amazon.com as 35th, 53rd and 57th respectively. ''For all the recent stock market enthusiasm for Internet companies, their brand strength is relatively weak,'' Perrier said. ''They have succeeded in capitalising on a new market opportunity or technology but the real test of whether they will remain ahead of the competition in such fast-changing sectors will come down to how effectively they establish and manage themselves as brands.'' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Quotes and News: