Apple 17th in Best 100 Global Brands for 2010

bestbrands

Apple was the biggest gainer in this year’s Best Global Brands survey by Interbrand, a brand management company. It ranked 17th overall out of 100 listed companies, rising from the 20th spot last year. It saw a 37 percent increase in value overall during 2010.

It wasn’t the only big winner, though. Hot on Apple’s tails, with a 36 percent value increase was Google, the company that makes Android, and Apple’s biggest worry in terms of smartphone competition. Google also ranked much higher overall, coming at number four, up from seven in 2009.

It may come as a bit of a surprise to learn that BlackBerry was the third highest gainer, up 32 percent in value from 2009. For a company that seems to be getting beat badly by both iOS and Android devices, that’s an impressive performance, and a reminder that BlackBerry still pretty much dominates the enterprise portion of the smartphone market.

While Apple didn’t provide an interview like many of the other top performers on the list, the picture of success that Interbrand paints reflects interestingly on Apple’s business practices. Among the core values leaders listed as crucial to success? Transparency.

Other criteria, like commitment to the brand and protection (including legal protection, something which Apple is pretty well versed in) fit very well with Cupertino’s practices, but Apple is anything but clear regarding how it conducts its business, despite recent efforts to the contrary.

Apple’s air of secrecy probably contributes to its status as the most over-reported member of the tech industry, which in turn probably has a great deal to do with its success as a brand. It’s one of the many ways the company’s success is unique, another be the paid content model they embrace, which is much different from Google’s focus on creating cheap products supported by search advertising revenue.

Check out the full report from Interbrand here. It’s a good “tale of the tape” for the upcoming battle between the two tech giants. That brand picture that emerges in 2011 will be very much the product of that battle.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

Comments have been disabled for this post