So says a new survey this morning, commissioned by Steve Jobs himself... Kidding.
The findings are courtesy of marketing consultancy Interbrand's Brandjunkie survey which ranks Apple as the brand consumers around the world cannot live without. Interbrand is well known in the advertising and marketing industry for its annual brand study that attempts to estimate the value of a consumer brand. Usually, Coca-Cola wins that derby.
The Brandjunkie findings, which took the pulse of nearly 2,000 professionals and students in an online survey conducted earlier this year, sought rank the emotional value of the brands in our lives. The questions were the typical anthropomorphic, touchy-feely queries brand consultants like to ask, including:
Q: Which brand would you most like to sit next to at a dinner party?
A: Apple, followed by Virgin, then Google, Coca-Cola and Nike.
Q. If sent back 100 years, which brand would have the biggest impact on history?
A. Again Apple, followed by Microsoft, Google, Coca-Cola and Ford.
Q. Which brands do you most want to argue with?
A. This time it's Microsoft, followed by Apple, then "no brand" (for the Naomi Klein fans, evidently), Coca-Cola and McDonald's.
As one unnamed respondent said of Microsoft: "They are so widespread and we all use their products, yet they are such frustrating products to use. Very little innovation for the size of the company."
As Reuters points out, the biggest loser were those brands who spend millions on trying to establish a "green" brand cachet. Apparently, most consumers think there is no such thing as a "green brand".