For many investors and analysts, this area of marketing seems fluffy and intangible, which makes it very hard to measure any potential benefits. While it’s true that quantifying intangibles is not always easy or accurate, it doesn’t mean that branding has no value to begin with. In this way, branding may be comparable to the concept of “leadership” in sports. Athletes like Mark Messier, Michael Jordan, Ray Lewis, Mia Hamm, and Steve Yzerman weren’t just good players from a technical perspective, but they also had intangible qualities that elevated the performances of their respective teams....

There’s a good chance your day started with a cappuccino, or a cold brew, and you aren’t alone. In fact, coffee is one of the most consumed drinks on the planet, and it’s also one of the most traded commodities. According to the National Coffee Association, more than 150 million people drink coffee on a daily basis in the U.S. alone. Globally, consumption is estimated at over 2.25 billion cups per day....

Today, we enter into the digital realm to see what happens every minute on the internet. The statistics are mind-boggling and put in perspective how scalable platforms have taken over the world: The above infographic shows how truly important the element of scale is to business today. Platforms such as the ones listed above are comparable in magnitude to other mega-sized companies, but without the intense capital expenditures, debt, or hard costs....

What is an Online (Robo) Financial Advisor? Lately, there has been plenty of talk on the emergence of “robo-investing”, or automated online investing. The website will take an investor’s preferences, time horizon, risk tolerance, and other information into account, and create a wealth management plan using its algorithms. It works 24/7 to manage a client’s money, and makes adjustments on the fly based on what is happening with the account and the market....

Here are three maps and data visualizations that give us some history of who came to America, and when it all happened. 200 Years of Immigration To begin, this video from Metrocosm shows immigration to the U.S. starting from 1820. Each dot represents 10,000 people. At first, immigration is coming almost exclusively from Europe. But by around 1900, immigration from Russia, China, Canada, Turkey and Japan picks up – but then WWII devastates global mobility, and immigration to the U....

And in 2014, when oil prices crashed and burned, the tide was gone – and it was shown that too many countries were relying on frothy oil revenues to balance out their trade deficits. A Lingering Crisis Fast forward to today, and low oil prices are still causing big problems for many countries. The above interactive visualization from the Council of Foreign Relations shows how the world economies most reliant on oil exports have fared since the 2014 crash....

The answer is “no”, since nothing can be perfect. Electric vehicles are still a source of GHG emissions as a result of the manufacturing and raw material extraction processes. Further, and more importantly, lifetime emissions for electric vehicles also depend on the sources of fuel used to power the local grid. So Is Driving a Tesla Better for the Environment? Today’s infographic, which looks at the well-to-wheels impact of electric and gas vehicles, was created in association with Delbrook Capital, a financial services company that has launched the CO2 Master Solutions Fund....

Devastating floods across Pakistan this summer have resulted in more than 1,400 lives lost and one-third of the country being under water. This raises the question: which nations and their populations are the most vulnerable to the risk of flooding around the world? Using data from a recent study published in Nature, this graphic maps flood risk around the world, highlighting the 1.81 billion people directly exposed to 1-in-100 year floods....

For many investors, real estate is considered as good of a place as any to park money—but what happens when things get a little too frothy, and the fundamentals begin to slip away? In recent years, experts have been closely watching several indicators that point to rising bubble risks in some housing markets. Further, they are also warning that countries like Canada and New Zealand may be overdue for a correction in housing prices....

Remittances serve as an economic lifeline around the world, particularly for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Today’s visualization relies on the latest data from the World Bank to create a snapshot of these global remittance flows. Where do most of these remittances come from, and which countries are the biggest recipients? Remittances: An Origin Story Remittances are a type of capital flow, with significant impacts on the places they wind up....

From public CCTV cameras to biometric identification systems in airports, facial recognition technology is now common in a growing number of places around the world. In its most benign form, facial recognition technology is a convenient way to unlock your smartphone. At the state level though, facial recognition is a key component of mass surveillance, and it already touches half the global population on a regular basis. Today’s visualizations from SurfShark classify 194 countries and regions based on the extent of surveillance....

Post-debate polls: Trump Still on Top Polls show 44% think Trump wins GOP debate. Rubio and Carson surprise. The Chart of the Week is a weekly feature in Visual Capitalist on Fridays. Last night’s debate in Cleveland was the first of many chances for the GOP establishment to dethrone Donald Trump from the top position in polls, and Fox News moderators Megyn Kelly, Chris Wallace and Bret Baier came out swinging with some surprisingly difficult questions....

Using data from Kantar and Bloomberg, a recent brand report released by BrandZ shows which tech companies are proving their worth to consumers during COVID-19 chaos. With data covering almost 4 million consumers, BrandZ also reveals that the tech sector leads the world’s 100 most valued brands in terms of financial power and consumer sentiment. Here’s how the top 20 tech brands from the report stack up: Out of the top five tech brands, Microsoft made the biggest moves with 30% brand value growth....

In Q2 2020, the country reported its steepest drop in real GDP ever recorded. Because of COVID-19, companies were forced to adapt. But things weren’t all bad—in fact, some companies even managed to prosper throughout the pandemic-induced madness. Here’s a look at the top 10 fastest growing brands of 2021, using data from Kantar BrandZ’s Top 100 Global brands report: Tesla takes the top spot, with an impressive 275% boost in brand value compared to the year prior....

We’ve previously looked at how the architectural feats of humanity have simply grown in magnitude over time, tracing this progress as far back as the Stone Age. The question now is, how much higher and further into the skies can we reach? This infographic by Alan’s Factory Outlet looks at the glittering urban skyscrapers on every continent. We also examine some interesting facts about each region. Asia: Growing Ever Upwards The first name on this list certainly needs no introduction....

The company, which began as a problem-plagued upstart a little over 15 years ago, has now become the world’s most valuable automaker – surpassing industry giants such as Toyota and Volkswagen. This milestone comes after a year of steady growth, which only hit a speed bump earlier this year due to COVID-19’s negative impact on new car sales. Despite these headwinds, Tesla’s valuation has jumped by an impressive 375% since this time last year....

A steady stream of human migration out of the countryside, and into swelling metropolitan centers, has shaken up the world’s power dynamic in just decades. Today’s eye-catching map via Cristina Poiata from Z Creative Labs looks at 70 years of movement and urban population growth in over 1,800 cities worldwide. Where is the action? Out of the Farms and Into the Cities The United Nations cites two intertwined reasons for urbanization: an overall population increase that’s unevenly distributed by region, and an upward trend in people flocking to cities....

Some of them, such as Marc Andreessen or Josh Kopelman, come from an operating background as former entrepreneurs themselves. They know what it takes to build a great company, and they use that knowledge to try and spot the next Mark Zuckerberg or Evan Spiegel to place a bet on. Other venture capitalists come at it from a more institutional angle. Mary Meeker, for example, spent a lot of time on Wall Street before making the move to Silicon Valley....

As the global economy slows and eventually begins to retract, can precious metals offer a useful store of value to investors? Part 1: The Start of a New Cycle Today’s infographic comes to us from Endeavour Silver, and it outlines some key indicators that precede a coming gold-silver cycle in which exposure to hard assets may help to protect wealth. Bankers Blowing Bubbles Since 2008, central bankers around the world launched a historic market intervention by printing money and bailing out major banks....

It shows that one potent idea can be so powerful that it eclipses all the other factors. Entrepreneurs that are a part of this “garage-to-riches” story do not start with $20 million in the bank. They do not typically have proven and accomplished technical teams. They must resort to building their new enterprise with elbow grease and ingenuity. They must make up for a lack of capital with hard work and discipline – but most of all, conviction....