I also agree with Denise that the "fuzzy dice" are at play here in excluding the airlines, and undervaluing telcos and business-to-business companies.

But you lost me at the yawn. The branding practices that lead to greater value are the same across industries, so in the Interbrand list, you can see the brands that are smart about building their brand for their customers (Coca Cola, Apple, IKEA, even Hyundai) simply do better in hard times. You can also compare how the companies like Starbucks fare both against the whole list and their food industry rivals (badly in both cases, but especially since almost all other food-related brands were rising in the ranks relative to the harder-hit businesses).

also it's important to look at sheer market cap and distribution — some brands seem to fare better due to size alone vs. real brand strength — i find it interesting that the survey excludes airlines because "it's hard to separate brand impact from routes and schedules" — isn't the same true with distribution in other categories?!