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The 2019 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking, which looks at the brands that contribute the most value to their respective parent companies, revealed a big jump in valuation for Facebook-owned photo and video sharing platform Instagram and nine newcomers to the list, including Chanel, Xbox (owned by Microsoft) and Didi Chuxing, the Chinese ride-hailing company that bought Uber’s Chinese business in 2016.
But the biggest news came from online retailer and cloud services provider Amazon, which overtook Apple and Google to become the world’s most valuable brand this year, according to the report released Tuesday. All three tech giants are among America’s highest paying companies.
“Behind this headline growth figure lies the success coming from a new phenomenon of ecosystem brand building,” said David Roth, CEO of global retail at marketing services provider WPP, which co-released the report with brand equity research company Kantar. “We’re seeing a move from individual product and service brands to a new era of highly-disruptive ecosystems.”
Perhaps no company is more in tune with creating brand ecosystems than Seattle-based Amazon. Through its numerous business operations, the Seattle-based tech giant commands about half of all U.S. online retail in the United States, a third of the global cloud services, and continues to expand through rapid-fire acquisitions.
Since the start of 2018, Amazon has acquired several technology companies, including U.S. cybersecurity startup Sqrrl, Indian payment platform Tapzo, and Canadian cloud services consultant TSO Logic. Earlier this year Amazon shored up its robotics division by purchasing Canvas Technology, a Colorado-based warehouse robotics startup.
This year’s list includes some of the highest-paying U.S. companies and well-known consumer facing brands. More Asian brands are appearing on the list, rising from just one in 2006 to more than 20 this year. Overall, the research estimates that these 100 brands added $328 billion to their total value, to $4.7 trillion, compared to the previous year—perhaps justifying in some cases the sky-high compensation received by some CEOs.
Rank | Company | Category | Brand Value 2019 ($M) | 2018-2019 Brand Value Change | Country of Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Amazon | retail | $315,505 | 52% | United States |
2 | Apple | technology | $309,527 | 3% | United States |
3 | technology | $309,000 | 2% | United States | |
4 | Microsoft | technology | $251,244 | 25% | United States |
5 | Visa | payments | $177,918 | 22% | United States |
6 | technology | $158,968 | -2% | United States | |
7 | Alibaba Group | retail | $131,246 | 16% | China |
8 | Tencent | technology | $130,862 | -27% | China |
9 | McDonald’s | fast food | $130,368 | 3% | United States |
10 | AT&T | telecom provider | $108,375 | 2% | United States |
11 | Verizon | telecom provider | $94,598 | 11% | United States |
12 | Mastercard | payments | $91,929 | 30% | United States |
13 | IBM | technology | $86,005 | -11% | United States |
14 | Coca Cola | beverages | $80,825 | 1% | United States |
15 | Marlboro | tobacco | $71,958 | -12% | United States |
16 | SAP | technology | $57,528 | 4% | Germany |
17 | Disney | entertainment | $57,007 | 6% | United States |
18 | UPS | logistics | $54,899 | -9% | United States |
19 | Home Depot | retail | $53,507 | 13% | United States |
20 | Xfinity | telecom provider | $48,889 | 14% | United States |
21 | Nike | apparel | $47,360 | 23% | United States |
22 | Louis Vuitton | luxury | $47,214 | 15% | France |
23 | Wells Fargo | regional bank | $46,468 | -15% | United States |
24 | Starbucks | fast food | $45,884 | 3% | United States |
25 | T-Mobile | telecom provider | $44,219 | 7% | Germany |
26 | PayPal | payments | $44,166 | 25% | United States |
27 | China Mobile | telecom provider | $39,322 | -15% | China |
28 | Accenture | technology | $39,184 | 16% | Ireland |
29 | ICBC | regional bank | $38,432 | -16% | China |
30 | Spectrum | telecom provider | $38,423 | -2% | United States |
31 | Chanel | luxury | $37,006 | . | France |
32 | Walmart | retail | $36,801 | 8% | United States |
33 | American Express | payments | $35,071 | 17% | United States |
34 | Netflix | entertainment | $34,290 | 65% | United States |
35 | Kweichow Moutai | alcohol | $33,924 | 6% | China |
36 | Intel | technology | $31,880 | 13% | United States |
37 | Hermes | luxury | $30,966 | 10% | France |
38 | Samsung | technology | $30,369 | -6% | South Korea |
39 | Youtube | entertainment | $29,613 | 29% | United States |
40 | Ping An | insurance | $29,470 | 13% | China |
41 | Toyota | cars | $29,151 | -3% | Japan |
42 | Cisco | technology | $28,861 | 35% | United States |
43 | L’Oreal | personal care | $28,376 | 9% | France |
44 | technology | $28,205 | 95% | United States | |
45 | Adobe | technology | $27,930 | 57% | United States |
46 | Salesforce | technology | $26,917 | 58% | United States |
47 | Huawei | technology | $26,908 | 8% | China |
48 | General Electric | conglomerate | $26,700 | -32% | United States |
49 | Vodafone | telecom provider | $26,499 | -8% | United Kingdom |
50 | Oracle | technology | $26,488 | 3% | United States |
51 | Budweiser | beer | $26,317 | -3% | United States |
52 | Gucci | luxury | $25,274 | 13% | Italy |
53 | Uber | transport | $24,206 | 51% | United States |
54 | Mercedes-Benz | cars | $23,355 | -9% | Germany |
55 | BMW | cars | $23,326 | -9% | Germany |
56 | HSBC | global banks | $23,169 | -2% | United Kingdom |
57 | Royal Bank of Canada | regional bank | $22,845 | 0% | Canada |
58 | technology | $22,816 | 46% | United States | |
59 | China Construction Bank | regional bank | $22,709 | -4% | China |
60 | HDFC Bank | regional bank | $22,705 | 9% | India |
61 | Zara | apparel | $22,581 | -16% | Spain |
62 | Costco | retail | $21,282 | 17% | United States |
63 | Baidu | technology | $20,879 | -22% | China |
64 | Orange S.A. | telecom provider | $20,728 | 6% | France |
65 | Royal Dutch Shell | energy | $20,669 | 2% | United Kingdom |
66 | JD | retail | $20,609 | -2% | China |
67 | Chase | regional bank | $20,514 | 6% | United States |
68 | Life Insurance Corporation | insurance | $20,314 | . | India |
69 | FedEx | logistics | $20,176 | -9% | United States |
70 | NTT | telecom provider | $20,070 | -10% | Japan |
71 | DiDi | transport | $20,041 | . | China |
72 | TD Ameritrade | regional bank | $19,958 | 2% | Canada |
73 | JP Morgan | global bank | $19,827 | 9% | United States |
74 | Xiaomi | technology | $19,805 | . | China |
75 | Movistar | telecom provider | $19,361 | -15% | Spain |
76 | IKEA | retail | $18,949 | 8% | Sweden |
77 | Citi | global banks | $18,878 | -11% | United States |
78 | Meituan | lifestyle platform | $18,760 | . | China |
79 | Pampers | baby care | $18,664 | -8% | United States |
80 | ExxonMobil | energy | $18,604 | 2% | United States |
81 | Dell Technologies | technology | $18,486 | . | United States |
82 | Agricultural Bank of China | regional bank | $18,199 | -5% | China |
83 | Bank of America | regional bank | $17,983 | 3% | United States |
84 | Colgate | personal care | $17,567 | -5% | United States |
85 | KFC | fast food | $17,205 | 14% | United States |
86 | Subway | fast food | $17,124 | -9% | United States |
87 | Xbox | technology | $16,690 | . | United States |
88 | DHL | logistics | $16,644 | -19% | Germany |
89 | Haier | iot ecosystem | $16,272 | . | China |
90 | AIA Group | insurance | $16,145 | 7% | Hong Kong |
91 | Commonwealth Bank | regional bank | $15,795 | -18% | Australia |
92 | Siemens | conglomerate | $15,308 | -4% | Germany |
93 | Hewlett-Packard | technology | $15,202 | 3% | United States |
94 | Lowe’s | retail | $14,964 | 14% | United States |
95 | US Bank | regional bank | $14,851 | -9% | United States |
96 | Aldi | retail | $14,692 | 7% | Germany |
97 | TATA Consultancy Services | technology | $14,282 | . | India |
98 | Gillette | personal care | $14,150 | -8% | United States |
99 | Bank Central Asia | regional bank | $13,437 | 6% | Indonesia |
100 | Adidas | apparel | $13,355 | 7% | Germany |
Consumer technology companies feature prominently among the top most valuable brands, but nestled among Google, Microsoft and Alibaba are non-tech stalwarts like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola.
While Instagram’s value nearly doubled compared to last year, making it the fastest-rising brand on this year’s list, the luxury category was the fastest-rising category, gaining 29 percent in value compared to the previous year’s data, followed by the retail category, which jumped 25 percent.
The rapid pivot to cloud computing, which underpins services like Facebook and Netflix and is increasingly part of day-to-day company operations and customer services, has boosted the value of the other leaders in the technology, namely Salesforce and Adobe, whose brand values jumped by nearly 60 percent.
Strategic acquisitions and changing strategies are helping Coca-Cola and PepsiCo adapt to declining demand for carbonated soft drinks, while Shell has been a leader in the oil and gas industry in alternative energy acquisitions, according to the report. Consumer product giants Procter & Gamble and Unilever, are working toward a more sustainable, recyclable packaging in response to consumer awareness of the issue.
The report said overall brand value growth was 7 percent for 2019, well below the “exceptional performance” of 21 percent in 2018 and below the annual average 9.5 percent growth rate measured since 2007. Part of the reason for the lower-than-average growth in brand value for the 100 companies on the list is attributable to heightened trade tensions between the U.S. and China that pulled down the brand value of automakers and banks.
But despite the lackluster growth in brand value for 2019, total brand value on this top 100 list is at an all-time high.
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