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A BlackBerry made by Research In Motion Ltd.RYAN REMIORZ/The Canadian Press

BlackBerry's brand value is plummeting.

According to a report by consulting firm Interbrand, to be released Tuesday, the decline in the "brand value" of Research In Motion Ltd.'s smartphone outpaces every other name on the 100-item list. It is the deepest decline in value seen since the 2009 report, when the global financial crisis hit home for many brands. That year, by contrast, BlackBerry rode out the economic storm and did not decline.

BlackBerry has lost a staggering 39 per cent of its brand value, according to Interbrand's calculations, and it has fallen to No. 93 on the global list of the 100 most valuable brands, from No. 56.

Its smartphone rivals have been on the opposite trajectory: Apple's brand value has jumped 129 per cent, the report says, and Samsung is up 40 per cent.

The firm released a Canadian brands ranking in June, but because RIM's flagship brand is also on the global list, and Interbrand re-evaluates rankings once a year, it held off evaluating BlackBerry until now. "Delays are killing them. And I'm not even sure it's going to matter," Interbrand's managing director Alfred DuPuy, said of the tardy launch of the BlackBerry 10 phones, now set for early next year. "It's not as though Apple or Samsung, or even HTC or Huawei ... they're not exactly sitting back." The brand is currently in an "identity crisis," he said.

While Interbrand's is just one calculation, there is little dispute RIM has a marketing problem. While BlackBerry's strength used to be predicated on the QWERTY keyboard, its Messenger program and its reputation for security, they are no longer enough to keep it afloat. Although its second-quarter results were better than expected, RIM posted a $235-million (U.S.) loss. And its marketing team has so far failed to clarify what its brand identity will be, as business-minded users shift to other devices and rival smartphones court the consumer market with aggressive campaigns and new devices that refresh themselves in the time it takes RIM to co-ordinate a single product launch.

"In this market, it's hyper-competitive," Mr. Dupuy said. "There's no waiting. You can't wait."

Interbrand's Top 10 Global Brands for 2012

1. Coca-Cola

-Brand value $77.8-billion

-Compared to last year's ranking: up 8%

-2011 rank: 1

2. Apple

-Brand value: $76.6-billion

-Compared to 2011: + 129%

- 2011 rank: 8

3. IBM

-Brand value: $75.5-billion

-Compared to 2011: + 8%

-2011 rank: 2

4. Google

-Brand value: $69.7-billion

-Compared to 2011: + 26%

-2011 rank: 4

5. Microsoft

-Brand value: $57.9-billion

-Compared to 2011: -2%

-2011 rank: 3

6. GE

-Brand value: $43.7-billion

-Compared to 2011: +2%

-2011 rank: 5

7. McDonald's

-Brand value: $40.1-billion

-Compared to 2011: +13%

-2011 rank: 6

8. Intel

-Brand value: $39.4-billion

-Compared to 2011: +12%

-2011 rank: 7

9. Samsung

-Brand value: $32.9-billion

-Compared to 2011: +40%

-2011 rank: 17

10. Toyota

-Brand value: $30.3-billion

-Compared to 2011: +9%

-2011 rank: 11

...and

93. BlackBerry

-Brand value: $3.9-billion

-Compared to 2011: -39%

-2011 rank: 56

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EXACT CALCULATION:

(Operating profit - taxes) - capital charge = the brand's economic profit

Economic profit x "role of brand index" (accounting for what portion of earnings can be attributed to brand value) = brand earnings

Brand earnings x brand-specific discount rate = Brand value as listed in the table (arrived at by taking forecasted earnings, multiplied by the role of the brand, and discounted back to present value, totalled to arrive at brand value)

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 27/03/24 6:40pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
AAPL-Q
Apple Inc
+2.12%173.31
INTC-Q
Intel Corp
+4.24%43.77
KO-N
Coca-Cola Company
+0.81%61.03
MSFT-Q
Microsoft Corp
-0.05%421.43
TM-N
Toyota Motor Corp Ltd Ord ADR
-0.62%252.15

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