“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.” Warren Buffett 

The Reputation Institute recently published its list of the world’s most reputable brands as rated by consumers. The Global RepTrak 100 measures the reputation of the most highly regarded companies across 15 countries including: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, UK and US. Each company receives a reputation score out of 100, based on trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling.

Reputation is “defined by the level of trust, admiration, respect and good feeling stakeholders have towards a company,” Anthony Johndrow, managing partner at Reputation Institute told Forbes. “Consumers are more and more interested in issues such as transparency, corporate governance and social responsibility.”

Here's how the top five brands made it to the top of the ranking.Continue reading...

"Chinese radio and television stations are to ban advertisements for expensive gifts such as watches, rare stamps and gold coins, as part of a push by the government to crack down on extravagance and waste."

China's coming campaign of frugality was no secret. But that announcement from China's state-run media sealed the deal, and maybe the purse strings, of China's state-run spending class.

Demonstrating just how powerful a spending segment the Chinese cadre is, shares of Burberry and other luxury brands immediately dropped. Meanwhile, shares of high-end Chinese liquor brands Kweichow Moutai and Wuliangye Yibin — both of which routinely dominate China's CCTV ad buys and are a staple of state dinners — have recently dropped. Last spring, the CCP also declared that all state-owned vehicles must be domestic and carry price tags under about $30,000. That move saw brands like Audi sigh and grimace. (In 2009, a full 20 percent of Audi's China revenue was from sales to state officials.)Continue reading...

Activision goes bigger with Skylanders line extension and marketing effort.

AIG pays $1.7 billion for ING Malaysia.

ANA conference poised to set attendance record.

Android robot is a hit with 3-D printers.

Audi and BMW starting to leave behind Mercedes-Benz in global premium-auto race.

BAE in play for U.S. buyers as report says EADS merger failed because of discord among participating European governments.

BP moves closer to overall settlement of Gulf spill as Louisiana blames company for perma-sheen.Continue reading...

While Audi and Toyota racers will be battling it out with one another in the 80th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France on Saturday, the two companies — along with several other automotive marques — also will be waging an important battle of the brands.

Audi has managed to win 10 of the last 12 runnings of Le Mans, the world's oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923. Now, the 24-hour race that is televised in some 60 countries and rivets millions of automotive and racing fans to their TVs is revving up for tomorrow's 24-hour event.Continue reading...

Apple's iPhone beats BlackBerry in its homeland; and could one day be made out of glass and function as a universal remote control.

AT&T sued over alleged deaf calls scam.

Bank of America tests rental program as alternative to foreclosure.

Bit.ly ranks U.S. news outlets.

Credit Suisse cuts CEO's pay 55%.

Dove launches self-esteem campaign in the U.K.

Etch A Sketch owner capitalizes on Romney-spurred attention.

Facebook strips privacy from new user policy, reportedly buys 750 patents from IBM.

FedEx called to task by Obama administration.Continue reading...

It's the time for end of the year lists and Nielsen’s "Tops of 2011: Advertising" collection is certainly worth a look.

The media tracking firm covers everything from Volkswagen’s Little Darth Vader Super Bowl phenomenon to product placement. Nielsen says these "best-liked ads reflect the enduring value of traditional ad elements that have withstood the test of time – strong creative, simple and engaging messaging, and a solid emotional connection."

The Nielsen charts that caught our eye were the two pertaining to product placement, because both tell us almost nothing about measuring product placement except to underscore how nobody can properly measure product placement.Continue reading...

Amazon leads Klout list of most influential retailers.

Avon ousted CEO Andrea Jung's two-year exit deal criticized by former CEOs.

Bank of America settles fair-lending case for record $335 million.

Beats by Dre pumps up headphone sales.

Diddy plans to launch tequila brand.

Facebook tests private messaging between users and brand pages.

FedEx disciplines delivery man who tossed computer monitor.

Frito-Lay sued over "all natural" claims.Continue reading...

In the professional sports world, it's pretty easy to identify who's up and who's down by whether they win or lose. But when it comes to the actual value of a sports brand, winning has a different definition: It's based on the revenue a sports team or an individual athlete generates.

Forbes magazine has been analyzing the value of sports brands for three years now. The latest edition of the "Forbes Fab 40" values the top ten names in sports in four distinct categories: athletes, teams, events and businesses.

Leading the list of money-making athletes is the famous (and more recently infamous) Tiger Woods, whose brand is on the comeback trail with this week's major endorsement by Rolex.Continue reading...