"We anticipate that over the next ten years both non-traditional brands and brands from the developing world will be fighting for position within the top 20," Brand Finance, an independent brand consultancy said in its latest report.
The London-based consultancy - Brand Finance in its annual report on the world's most valuable brands for 2006, gives the global league table - BF250, which is dominated by 112 US brands, 92 European brands with Coca-Cola in the number one position and the remaining 45 brands coming from across the globe with a small number from emerging markets.
"In future years we expect to see an increasing number of brands from Brazil, Russia, India and China and also from other emerging markets," Brand Finance added.
As per the Brand Finance survey, the world's top ten brands are Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Citibank, largest retailer Walmart, IBM, HSBC, GE, Bank of America, Hewlett-Packard and cigarette maker Marlboro.
Among the top three brands globally, the soft drink manufacturer in top position has a value of $43 billion, followed by software giant Microsoft in second place with $37 billion and financial firm Citibank only slightly behind on $35 billion, the report says.
Meanwhile, the report predicts that the brands from emerging markets are most likely to become takeover targets of cash rich brands from the developed markets, regulatory conditions permitting.
The report also did not rule out the possibility of brands from India, China acquiring brands from the developed market, expanding their global footprint.
"We expect to see the strongest emerging market brands generating sufficient buying power to acquire developed market brands," the report stated.
The report cited examples like the China-based Lenovo Group's acquisition of IBM's PC division for $1.75 billion in 2004, creating the world's third-largest PC maker.
Another example is the recent acquisition of Corus by Tata Steel, pursuant to which, the name Tata would be a truly global brand weighing about $9.1-9.2 billion in valuation.
It could have a brand that would be in the Top 100 in the same global power pack as a Hitachi ($9.1 billion in brand value) or a FedEx ($9.2 billion).
It is important to note that not only is cross-country ownership becoming more common but consumers are increasingly struggling to identify the nationality or origins of a brand, either due to longevity in the market place, such as Heinz, or deliberate product positioning.
For example Nando's restaurant chain, has been positioned as Portuguese, when it actually comes from South Africa, the report added.
