Four member companies of the Leading Brands of Spain Forum, La Caixa, Mango, Natura Bissé and Fermax, have had their brand management skills acknowledged in the 5th ESADE Brand Centre Awards, whose prize-giving ceremony took place on 7 October at the business school's headquarters in Madrid. Thus, La Caixa received two prizes, on being recognised both in the most important category, corresponding to the ‘Grand Prize’, and in the ‘Long-term Track Record’.

Two Spanish brands belonging to the Leading Brands of Spain Forum, Zara and Santander, figure in the ranks of the 100 most valuable brands according to a report published by the consulting firm Interbrand. Thus, this year the Best Global Brands 2010, a ranking system published by Interbrand each year, includes 2 Spanish firms for the first time in the top 100 global brands. The entry of Santander in the list, at Number 68, is one of the strongest, above Barclays and Credit Suisse, considering furthermore the overall drop experienced by companies in the financial services sector on this list. With a value of 4,846 million dollars, Santander becomes the second Spanish brand to enter these ranks. For its part, Zara has maintained its presence ever since it entered back in 2005.

William Chislett, researcher at the Real Instituto Elcano and member of the Committee on Spain Ambassador Brands and Image, analyses the strength of the leading Spanish multinational companies in his latest report ‘Spain’s Main Multinationals: Building on their Success’. Chislett points out how direct foreign investment by the leading Spanish companies in the last fifteen years has enabled them to gain in size and international weighting, thus diluting their dependence on the Spanish market, which is allowing them to overcome the current economic crisis.

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.

Through a sponsorship agreement signed with the Real Colegio Complutense at Harvard, the Leading Brands of Spain Forum (FMRE) will assist and participate in a business seminar to be held from 2 to 5 May, 2010 in The Harvard Faculty Club (Cambridge-Boston, Massachusetts).

During a conference held in Santiago de Compostela on 27 July, within the framework of the Galician School of Public Administration conferences, the Vice-Chairman of the Leading Brands of Spain Forum and Director and General Secretary of Inditex, Antonio Abril, emphasised the need to strengthen the Made by Spain effect. He also stressed the importance of creating synergies between the Leading Brands and the Spanish Ambassador Brands to improve the image of the quality of our country’s products.

The Trade Union CC.OO. recently published a study revealing that the working conditions of own brand company workers are significantly inferior to those of manufacturer brand workers. The researchers stress that the differences in collective agreements between some companies and others are so notable that, in some sectors, the difference in salaries between distributor brands and manufacturer brands can reach 71%.

Three Leading Brands of Spain Forum companies – Repsol, Nutrexpa and Calvo – were acknowledged at the 4th ESADE Brand Centre Awards, presented in Madrid on 4 June for the purpose of fostering the effectiveness of strong, consistent and competitive brands. These three award-winning brands in 2009 are part of a long list of Forum companies that have received these acknowledgements in different categories in previous editions.