The top 10 in Interbrand Best Global Brands 2011

Interbrand, a leading brand consultancy, has just released their 12th annual Best Global Brands Report.

This annual valuation report has been voted as one of the most influential benchmark studies by business leaders. It provides insights into the yearly performances of the world's Top 100 brands.

Interbrand ranks the brands by Brand Value, which is calculated based on the formula below.

Due to the volatile markets and uncertain business climate that characterized 2011, brands are in the midst of adapting to a new reality.

"Uncertainty is the new status quo, so today’s brands need to be quick and nimble," remarked Jez Frampton, Interbrand’s Global Chief Executive Officer. "Consistency, relevance and commitment are imperative if a brand is to keep pace in our rapidly changing world."

The top 10 brands in 2011 are:

• Coca-cola
• IBM
• Microsoft
• Google
• GE
• McDonald's
• Intel
• Apple
• Disney
• Hewlett-Packard

The chart below shows the change in Brand Value of these top 10 over the years. Google and Apple are both progressing fast.

Click here to download the full Best Global Brands 2011 Report for free. There is also an iPad version of the report available in iTunes Store.

5 main reasons why prospects will not buy from you

According to Zig Ziglar, there are 5 main reasons why your prospects will not buy from you:

• No need - They don't feel they need what you are selling
• No money - They don't have any (or enough) money
• No hurry - They are just not in a hurry to buy
• No desire - They don't really want what you are selling
• No trust - They don't trust you

If you apply the correct tactics, you can still close the deal.

In most cases, people are going to buy what they really want, not necessarily what they need. It is your opportunity and responsibility to sell the legitimate benefits of your goods and services in a legitimate manner so that your prospect will want to buy from you, again and again.

Perhaps you can learn from the late Steve Jobs on how he could get you to buy his range of Apple products.

Ubuntu Linux 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) released

Canonical has just released Ubuntu Linux 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) on 14 October 2011. You can freely download and install it from here.

In this version, we can see major upgrade to its Unity user interface, with refined Dash and improved Launcher and Filter. The Ubuntu Software Center is now looks even more alike the Macintosh App Store.

It has replaced Evolution with Thunderbird as its default email client.

It has tighter integration with the Ubuntu One cloud service.

The Linux kernel has been upgraded to version 3 too.

While Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) is a major revamp that brings in new user experience, I would say Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) is the subsequent refinement and stabilization release. The coming version of Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin) will be a Long Term Support (LTS) release.