Movistar, Santander, BBVA and Zara are rightly among the 100 most valuable brands in the world, according to the BrandZ ranking issued by the consulting firm Millward Brown. The ranking is led by four technology brands (Google, IBM, Apple and Microsoft), followed closely by Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Marlboro and China Mobile. The 100 most valuable brands in 2009 were valued at 2.04 billion dollars (1.54 billion euros). Google leads the BrandZ ranking for the fourth consecutive year as the world's most valuable brand, worth $114,000 million dollars (86,250 million euros) in 2009, some 14% higher than the previous year.

The value of Spanish brands in the ranking amounts to 4% of the total, an achievement when compared to Spain's GDP contribution to the global economy, which stands at 2%. The first brand to appear in the list is Santander, worth 13,600 million euros, which has established itself as the seventh largest financial institution in the world and ranks at number 31. BBVA with a brand value of 9,800 million euros ranks at number 13 in regards to financial institutions and 56 in the global ranking. Movistar (9,400 million) comes in at number 60 while Zara, with a value of 8,986 million, ranked 80th, and is the third highest value clothing brand in the world, just behind Nike and H&M.