I am NOT Maverick Marketing Sydney

The Washington Post reckons its figured out who are the finnciers that rule the world.

None of the big Aussie banks made the cut (sorry, folks, down-under we’re just not influential enough).

According to the WP, the top three are:

1. Barclay’s (Great Britain)

2. The Capital Group Companies (U.S.)

3. Fidelity Investments (U.S.)

You can check out the list at Washington Post

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Our friends in the North of America really truly deeply love adding “ville” to the end of place names.

So I thought it might be a bit of fun to draw up a list of 80 “ville” places that you can visit by clicking on the links.

There will be many fine examples of “villes” that I’ve missed, so feel free to drop me a line and I’ll add to the list. (And no, I didn’t include OBAMAVILLE, Colorado Springs because it didn’t turn up in Google Maps, even though its name is kinda catchy.)

01. AMITYVILLE, New York, USA
02. ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, USA
03. BELLEVILLE, Ontario, Canada (or the ones in New Jersey or Illinois)
04. BENNETTSVILLE, New York (or the ones in North Carolina or South Carolina)
05. BENTONVILLE, Arkansas
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Banking, technology, retailers, and food/beverage all made a strong showing on research agency Millward Brown’s inaugural BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands.

China Mobile Ltd., the largest mobile carrier in the world’s most populous country, ranked No. 1 among the top 50 Chinese brands.

The Chinese mobile carrier had a brand value worth 56 billion US dollars this year. The market researcher said China Mobile has been on its list of the top 100 most valuable global brands for the last five years.

The telecom brand was closely followed by the nation’s four largest banks. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ranked second; Bank of China, third; China Construction Bank, fourth and Agricultural Bank of China, sixth.
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Fastest-rising searches 2010

1. chatroulette
2. formspring
3. ABC3
4. world cup 2010
5. tumblr
6. ancestry.com.au
7. event cinemas
8. omegle
9. wikileaks
10. jetstar

Most popular searches 2010

1. facebook
2. YouTube
3. google
4. ebay
5. hotmail
6. yahoo
7. real estate
8. maps
9. commonwealth
10. white pages

Fastest-rising news stories 2010

1. chile earthquake
2. haiti
3. ipad
4. iphone 4
5. vancouver 2010
6. melbourne storm
7. android
8. volcano
9. oil spill
10. world cup

Fastest-rising election stories 2010

1. australia election
2. bob katter
3. julia gillard
4. election results
5. voting
6. abc election
7. nla newspapers
8. greens party
9. labor party
10. poll bludger

Fastest-rising people 2010

1. Cody Simpson
2. Andy Irons
3. Justin Bieber
4. Julia Gillard
5. Lara Bingle
6. Katy Perry
7. Kim Kardashian
8. Jessica Watson
9. Andrew Bolt
10. Kevin Rudd

Fastest-rising celebrities 2010

1. casey johnson
2. bruce jenner
3. christina hendricks
4. heidi montag
5. joseph gordon-levitt
6. kendra wilkinson
7. jared leto
8. kim kardashian
9. sandra bullock
10. jake gyllenhaal

Fastest-rising retailers 2010

1. woolworths online shopping
2. urban outfitters
3. shopbop
4. saks fifth avenue
5. dfo south wharf
6. nordstrom
7. rubi shoes
8. graysonline
9. zara
10. walmart

Most popular scandals 2010

1. vanessa hudgens scandal
2. nrl scandal
3. masterchef scandal
4. lara bingle scandal
5. hey dad scandal
6. indian scandal
7. st kilda scandal
8. miley cyrus scandal
9. watergate scandal
10. tiger woods scandal

Most popular celebrity deaths 2010

1. andy irons dead
2. carl williams dead
3. justin bieber dead
4. gary coleman dead
5. tiesto dead
6. taylor lautner dead
7. johnny depp dead
8. lil wayne dead
9. lady gaga dead
10. slipknot bassist dead

Most popular celebrity weddings 2010

1. anna paquin wedding
2. chelsea clinton wedding
3. hilary duff wedding
4. kate ritchie wedding
5. katy perry wedding
6. miranda kerr wedding
7. robbie williams wedding
8. royal wedding
9. megan fox wedding
10. kyle sandilands wedding

Most popular celebrity splits 2010

1. tiger woods divorce
2. benny hinn divorce
3. heidi and spencer divorce
4. bam margera divorce
5. bill rancic divorce
6. eva longoria divorce
7. giuliana rancic divorce
8. sandra bullock divorce
9. justine henin divorce
10. natalie gruzlewski divorce

Most popular movies 2010

1. the crazies
2. resident evil afterlife
3. ben hur
4. percy jackson
5. iron man 2
6. mary poppins
7. the avengers
8. transformers 3
9. breaking dawn
10. jesse james

Most popular Do-It-Yourself searches 2010

1. diy bunnings
2. diy kitchens
3. diy fencing
4. diy wedding invites
5. diy super
6. diy projects
7. diy painting
8. diy wardrobes
9. diy tiles
10. diy renovations

Most popular diets 2010

1. dukan diet
2. lemon detox diet
3. soup diet
4. atkins diet
5. mediterranean diet
6. csiro diet
7. blood type diet
8. gluten free diet
9. vegetarian diet
10. low gi diet

Most popular recipes 2010

1. minestrone soup
2. macaroons
3. chicken parmigiana
4. beef stroganoff
5. anzac biscuits
6. pikelet
7. bruschetta
8. shepherds pie
9. banana bread
10. chicken soup

Most popular sports-related searches 2010

1. afl
2. club
3. football
4. world cup
5. nrl
6. cricket
7. soccer
8. rugby
9. tennis
10. world cup 2010

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Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore are seen as having the least corruption in the world, according to a just-published global survey.

Somalia is viewed as the most corrupt country.

The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is published annually by Transparency International, a corruption monitoring organization based in Berlin, Germany.

Countries with the highest scores on the index are viewed as having the least corruption; countries with the lowest scores, the most.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore each scored 9.3 out of a possible 10.

Rounding out the 10 highest scores: Finland and Sweden, 9.2; Canada, 8.9; Netherlands, 8.8; Australia and Switzerland, 8.7; and Norway, 8.6.

Japan was 17th on the list with a score of 7.8; the United Kingdom 20th (7.6); and the United States 22nd (7.1).

At the bottom of the 178 countries Somalia scored 1.1, just below Afghanistan and Myanmar (1.4) and Iraq (1.5).

Among emerging economic powerhouses, Brazil was 69th on the list with a score of 3.7; China 78th (3.5); and India 87th (3.3).

Learn more at CNN.

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1. Starbucks (16,032,409) (Visit The Page)
2. Coca Cola (15,095,389) (Visit The Page)
3. Oreo (12,085,126) (Visit The Page)
4. Skittles (11,508,441) (Visit The Page)
5. Red Bull (10,198,875) (Visit The Page)
6. Victoria’s Secret (8,429,334) (Visit The Page)
7. Disney (8,394,141) (Visit The Page)
8. Converse All Star (7,366,892) (Visit The Page)
9. iTunes (7,071,721) (Visit The Page)
10. MTV (7,043,056) (Visit The Page)
11. Zara (6,063,583) (Visit The Page)
12. Pringles (5,762,518) (Visit The Page)
13. NBA (5,616,388) (Visit The Page)
14. Starburst (5,380,056) (Visit The Page)
15. Nutella (5,208,281) (Visit The Page)
16. Dr Pepper (5,164,646) (Visit The Page)
17. Monster Energy (4,916,536) (Visit The Page)
18. Adidas Originals (4,804,224) (Visit The Page)
19. H&M (4,520,070) (Visit The Page)
20. Ferrero Rocher (4,424,751) (Visit The Page)
21. McDonalds (3,795,486) (Visit The Page)
22. Playstation (3,683,751) (Visit The Page)
23. Xbox (3,447,690) (Visit The Page)
24. Taco Bell (3,399,860) (Visit The Page)
25. Puma (2,712,075) (Visit The Page)
26. BMW (2,696,929) (Visit The Page)
27. Blackberry (2,675,387) (Visit The Page)
28. Nike (2,481,546) (Visit The Page)

Learn more at The Next Web.

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Want to know who is the best when it comes to the world’s reference websites?

We’ve compiled the list complements of Amazon-owned, Alexa but we really figured that the list missed some really notable reference sites so in the spirit of an important award ceremony, we’ll start by hat tipping our fantastic runner-ups.

Here are (drum roll)…

THE TOP 10 HONORABLE MENTIONS…

1. Google Earth – which is a desktop app but has recently been promised its own website so it kinda qualifies
2. Ted – which is a small non-profit dedicated to the spread of good ideas
3. Open Yale Courses – or try Stanford or Harvard tuition for nothing, nada, zip.
4. About.com – find out about almost absolutely anything.
5. Librarians Internet Index – for information you can trust, compiled by librarians for the world to enjoy.
6. Gary Price’s List of Lists – A database of ranked listings of companies, people and resources freely available on the Internet.
7. Ancestry.com – My great, great, great grandfather is on ancestry.com (true story). It is an awesome resource for figuring out the secrets of your family’s past.
8. Ref Desk – Fact checker for the Internet. I also really like Internet World Stats.
9. Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names – Look up (almost) anywhere in the world.
10. Universal Currency Converter – Convert anything to anything to figure out what it’s worth.

THE WORLD’S TOP 20 REFERENCE SITES.

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Renowned for making vehicles driven by James Bond, it came top of the annual poll, reclaiming the number one spot from Apple’s iPhone which came second.

Apple’s iPod was named third coolest, followed by Blackberry and stereo and TV maker Bang & Olufsen.

The survey was run by The Center for Brand Analysis which creates league tables based on the opinions of marketing experts, business professionals and thousands of British consumers.

Key factors in the selection process included, style, innovation, desirability and originality.

Vivienne Westwood topped the fashion brands in the poll, which began in 2001, while Ray-Ban was judged the coolest fashion accessory.

Google and YouTube were the only Internet brands to make the Top 20.
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Looks as though Aussies love affair with Vegemite might be on the wane, according to a study conducted last month by Y&R Advertising Group’s, Brand Asset Consulting (BAC).

Our much-loved iconic spread has been replaced by tech brands such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and Nokia.

The study, in which 2000 Australians participated, found that Vegemite and Toyota had taken brand hits potentially as a consequence of major problems both companies faced the year before.

Vegemite lost six places, from 4 to 10, after the launch of its iSnack product disaster. Toyota, the top auto brand since 1997, slid to 6th place following the recall of cars due to a stuck accelerator problem (and the ensuing negative publicity).

It seems Aussies are much less forgiving than overseas counterparts, stripping 18% from trust levels in the brands compared to a 6% average globally.

The biggest losers included nappy brand Huggies, Venus razors, slimming brand Ultra Slim and Dare milk. BP has also suffered in the wake of the environmental issues it has been battling in the US.
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It’s out.

Interbrand’s List of 2010 World’s Best Brands. Coca-Cola retains its top spot as the number one ranked brand on the list.

A number of prominent brands faced extraordinary crisis in 2010 resulting in stalled growth, value loss and in the case of BP, failure to make the ranking this year. BP’s environmental disaster and inability to make good on its brand promise of “Beyond Petroleum” led to it falling off of the list and helped competitor Shell emerge as an industry leader.

Although the Toyota (#11) recall caused the brand to lose -16% of its brand value, its long-standing reputation for reliability, efficiency and innovation helped it weather the crisis better than expected.

Goldman Sachs (#37) was once the envy of Wall Street, but now faces the dichotomy of strong economic results and an angry public that will continue to lash out until the company begins to demonstrate that it is making sincere efforts to better align its ethics with its brand.
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