BrandChannel reports that Apple has pipped Google at the post to become the leading brand in their Readers’ Choice Awards. The do note:

However, Apple’s cultural symbolism was not economically symbiotic. Its worldwide computer market share dropped to less than two percent in 2004 to a 1.87 percent share in Q3 of 2004 (down from 2.19% in Q3 2003).

So let me get this straight… You can be a great brand and have declining marketshare in major categories? Hmmmmm… Doesn’t sound like much of a proxy for business success. Far too many brand marketers focus on brand awareness and not business outcome. Ok, so now I’m whining…

One interesting new entrant in the Awards, Al Jazeera.

Rounding out the top five 2004 Global Brands is a surprise winner: the Arab-focused, 24-hour news source Al Jazeera. Based in Qatar and offering an alternative to BBC or CNN, Al Jazeera has over 35 million viewers (overwhelmingly Muslim) and 30 bureaus worldwide. As the issues of 2004 hovered heavily around the Middle East and Islamic populations, Al Jazeera’s relevancy soared.

Here’s their little chart:

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