Microsoft MSFT -1.92% ranks second with a value of $63 billion, up 11% after being flat the previous three years, as the brand works to make the transition to a mobile world. Microsoft has recently had more success with its move away from the PC and software licensing model towards cloud offerings.
Microsoft inked a five-year, $400 million sponsorship deal with the NFL last year. The pact requires the NFL to use Surface tablet computers on the sideline that download high-def photographs of plays as they occur. Unfortunately for Microsoft the arrangement has provided more evidence of the power of the Apple brand, as announcers and players repeatedly refer to the Surface tablets as iPads and one player called them “knockoff iPads.” Microsoft is still a bit player in tablets and phones. “There is a lot of catching up to do,” says Reibstein. “They are going to have to work to overcome the brand disadvantage they have in those areas.