Al Jazeera Voted Top 5 Brand, Apple Pips Google

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Sunday, January 30, 2005 6:36:39 PM ET

By Trevor Datson

LONDON (Reuters) - Arabic media channel Al Jazeera has been voted the world's fifth most influential brand in a poll of branding professionals that gave the top slot to U.S. iPod and computer icon Apple.

In the survey of almost 2,000 ad executives, brand managers and academics by online magazine Brandchannel, Apple ousted search engine Google from last year's top spot, but the surprise to many will be Al Jazeera's entry into the top five. "With all the news from Iraq and Afghanistan and the 'war on terror', a lot of people are really tuned into the news, and the major news sources have a western bias," Brandchannel Editor Robin Rusch said.

"I think people are tuning in to Al Jazeera and looking at its Web site because it does offer another viewpoint. For the global community, it's one of the few points of access we have to news from the region with a different perspective."

The annual survey asks respondents to rate the impact of a particular brand on people's lives, and does not attempt to quantify its financial value.

Complete story: http://www.metronews.ca/reuters_national.asp?id=53351

[ocean girl]

1. As an Apple and IKEA lover - good for them!