Each year, Interbrand (a corporate strategy consultant) reports the 100 top brands in the world. The leading brands are determined from a calculation based on an analysis to determine what portion of the firm’s sales and earnings can be credited to the firm’s brand. For 2016, the top 10 brands were, in order:
1. Apple
2. Google
3. Coca-Cola
4. Microsoft
5. Toyota
6. IBM
7. Samsung
8. Amazon
9. Mercedes-Benz
10. General Electric

In addition to brand, a key measure for a company is its innovation. The Boston Consulting Group, a global consulting firm, prepares an annual survey of senior executives to rank the most innovative companies. The top 10 in 2016 were:
1. Apple
2. Google
3. Tesla
4. Microsoft
5. Amazon
6. Netflix
7. Samsung
8. Toyota
9. Facebook
10. IBM

Required

1. Which of the 20 firms listed would you classify as a cost leader, and which would you classify as a differentiator?

2. Explain briefly your choices in requirement 1 above.