Technology brands have once again dominated in the Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking, accounting for over 50 percent of the top 100 and eight out of the top ten companies.
The 2018 BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking, released this week by by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown, has seen Google and Apple retain the number 1 and 2 spots, growing +23% to $302.1 billion and +28% to $300.6 billion respectively. Amazon moved into third position ahead of Microsoft, growing +49% to $207.6 billion, while Tencent rose to fifth ahead of Facebook in sixth, growing +65% in brand value to $179 billion, up three places from last year’s ranking.
“We’ve seen the biggest ever rise in brand value this year, driven by growth across all categories. Both new and established players have seen the payoff in being bold and adopting a long-term outlook towards brand-building,” said David Roth, CEO, EMEA and Asia, WPP.
“WPP’s own focus is on providing innovative approaches for our clients that combine data and technology with world-class creativity. Those companies that invest in intelligence-led marketing and back their brands with the power of creativity and ideas will be the winners in today’s world of innovation, disruption and change,” he added.
Despite economic and political uncertainty in many regions of the world, this year’s ranking shows its largest-ever annual increase in value – almost $750 billion (+21%). This gave the BrandZ Global Top 100 an overall total brand value of $4.4 trillion; up 204% over 12 years since it was first published in 2006. This is also the first year that all categories in the BrandZ Top 100 reported growth.
Doreen Wang, Kantar Millward Brown’s Global Head of BrandZ, said, “Brands that are winning in the intelligence-led marketing era include businesses such as Amazon and Tencent who put the consumer at the heart of everything they do. These brands use technology to understand the needs of their consumers and apply these learnings to create an ecosystem of services that fulfil multiple needs, enabling a seamless consumer experience between platforms.”
