Trust Common Theme Among World’s Most Valuable Brands

Trust is the common theme among the world’s most valuable brands, according to the Brand Finance Global 500.

Apple Inc. has been deemed the world’s most valuable brand according to brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance.

“Most brands see it as an honor to be recognized as one of the world’s most powerful brands and reflect this in their communications,” Robert Haigh, Communications Director, Brand Finance told Loyalty360. “It shows that marketers and brand managers are working successfully with the financial and operational parts of organizations to steward the brand and its development. To be rated as one of the most powerful, brands must be loved and trusted, not just by consumers, but by a broader range of stakeholders and the public as a whole.”

Apple’s brand value reached $104.7 billion, which was up 20% from the previous year. Samsung’s value trailed at $78.8 billion, but that value rose 34%.

Third on the list was Google Inc. with a brand value of $68.6 billion, up 32%. Microsoft Corp. was fourth at $62.8%, up 38%. Fifth on the list was Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), which posted the top percentage gain among the top 10, up 74% to $53.5 billion. Sixth was General Electric Co. (GE) at $52.5 billion, up 41%. AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was in seventh place, up 49% to $45.4 billion. Eighth place was taken by Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), up 23% to $45.1 billion. Ninth was Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), up 6% to $44.8 billion. And tenth was International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), which rose 10% to $41.5 billion.

U.S. brands continued to dominate the Brand Finance’s list, occupying 185 brands of the 500 spots. Japan was second followed by Germany, France, and the U.K. Despite China’s status as the world’s second biggest economy, it was sixth in terms of total brand value as its brands are still developing.

Haigh said brand values are dependent on two major factors: pure brand strength metrics (such as reputation) and revenue data. The two are combined in the final brand value calculation.

“The reason that brand valuers put a strong emphasis on revenue and revenue forecasts is that it is all well and good having a powerful brand, however it is the ability to monetize the brand that really counts for brand owners, boards, and investors,” Haigh said. “For example Ferrari is the world’s most powerful/strongest brand (AAA+ rated by Brand Finance), however because it is somewhat confined within its category (and even within that in a niche, luxury manufacturer), it is not the world’s most valuable. Apple on the other hand has a brand that isn’t quite as strong (AAA rated), but through a combination of shrewd strategy, technological innovation and  being part of the rapidly expanding tech sector where brand extension is easier, is more able to monetize its brand, making it the world’s most valuable.”

On the brand strength side, Haigh said the criteria include: visual identity, advertising spend, trademark protection, loyalty, desirability, purchase intent, margin, Alexa web rank, CEO score (value generated by CEO against compensation), employee satisfaction score, environmental performance, and corporate governance.

“Though the most powerful brands come from a range of sectors, they are linked by a common appreciation of the importance of intangible assets,” Haigh said. “They take steps to fully understand their brands and other intangibles to be able to manage them most effectively.”

Technology played a major role in this report, Haigh said.

“Tech companies are tightening their grip on the top spots of the table as their influence seeps into more and more areas of our daily lives,” he explained. “It goes beyond the fact that they have disrupted traditional businesses and captured their business, revenue, in the way that Amazon does within the retail space. Tech brands in general reach us via our desire for connectivity. As we become perpetually connected, tech brands are always with us in a way that others are not, allowing them to build recognition and loyalty far more rapidly. Other brands will need to embrace technology to attempt to replicate the same level of engagement in order to compete.”

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