NEW YORK, June 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Millward Brown, in conjunction with BrandAnalytics and WPP, today announce the inaugural BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands.

The value of the BrandZ Latam Top 50 is dominated by retail, financial, communication, beer and energy brands.

Petrobras, the Brazilian energy giant, topped the ranking with a brand value of $10.6 billion. The remainder of the Top 5 consists of brands from the financial and communications categories.

Brazil, the world´s sixth largest economy, is the most dominant country in the rankings, accounting for one third of the $136 billion total value. However, it´s not all about Brazil. Mexican brands are in close pursuit and together are worth $37 billion — 27 percent of the total value of the BrandZ Latam Top 50. Brands from Chile, Colombia and Argentina also made it into the ranking and together constitute almost 40 percent of the total value.

Going global

The BrandZ Latam Top 50 brands are not only leaders in their own countries; many also have a regional presence across South America. The Chilean retailer Falabella operates stores throughout South America, and the Mexican telecom company, America Móvil, serves much of Latin America through its Claro brand. Of the brands in the BrandZ Latam Top 50 ranking, eight also ranked in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2012 in the following categories: energy, communication, retail, beer and personal care.

Many of the BrandZ Latam Top 50 brands have a global footprint including Petrobras, Cemex, which is a global supplier of building materials, Sadia and Perdigão – both Brazilian food processors that export worldwide. When Chile´s LAN Airlines completes it merger with Brazil´s TAM Airlines, it will become one of the world´s largest carriers

The importance of brand

Despite being hit by the slowdown in the Latin American economy, the value of the BrandZ Latam Portfolio has outperformed the MSCI Emerging Market Latin America Index by over 7 percent points over the last 12 months. This demonstrates that a strong brand not only maximizes the potential of a business when times are good, but also helps to minimize the impact of poor economic conditions on a business.

Fabian Hernandez, Latin American CEO, Millward Brown, says: "The BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands ranking corroborates the increasing importance of emerging markets in the world. It is fascinating to know in which industries the Latin American brands are competing with the global brands; Financial Institutions, Communications, and Retail."

Eduardo Tomiya, Managing Director, BrandAnalytics, says: "The importance of the Latin American ranking is to measure and show to companies, shareholders and the public in general, that consistent work builds substantial incremental value in the brands. It also establishes the most credible benchmarking for local brands to compare to the global and regional ones in a quantitative and analytical framework."

The BrandZ Rankings
The BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands, is part of the suite of BrandZ rankings, which also includes the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands and the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands.

Background and Methodology
BrandAnalytics, a leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy in Brazil, conducted the brand valuation in collaboration with Millward Brown Optimor using the Millward Brown Optimor methodology.

Commissioned by WPP and in its first year, the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Latin American Brands ranking is unique. Combining both financial data, from Bloomberg and Kantar Worldpanel, as well as consumer opinion gathered from interviews with over 25,000 Latin American consumers about 800 brands, the BrandZ Latam Top 50 is the most robust ranking of Latin American brands available.