BusinessWeek has compiled it’s first ever list of the most influential companies, voted on by a 14-member advisory board. BW says their list is more art than science, and that the companies that emerged are those that have played a major role in the world of business over the past year and could shape the corporate landscape for years to come. The list inlcudes…Apple, Google, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, Monsanto, News Corp, Saudi Aramco, Toyota, Unilever, 3M, Autodesk, China Mobile, Jarden, Intuit, Japan Steel Works, Nielsen, Microsoft, Sirius XM, YKK, Li & Fung, Facebook, HCL Technologies, Craigslist, and SKS Microfinance.

Andy Beal has a quote on his site from Shelly Lazarus, chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide “We’re coming to realize a brand is not just what the manufacturer says it is,” says , “but everything that the consumer or the customer experiences.”

The core characteristics of influence are unchanged, whether it’s inspiring a loyal following, spawning big ideas, or building up mammoth market share. What has changed is how players achieve it. A company’s physical assets are less important now than the force of its ideas. In the age of blogging and instant communication, consumers are less the recipients of corporate influence than powerful actors who help shape it.