Entertainment brands drive global brand value

The increased value of brands including Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Alibaba resulted in the list’s total value growing by 21% ($748bn) to reach $4.4tn.

The global top 10 is dominated by technology brands, with Google retaining the top spot, closely followed by Apple.

Non-US brands grew fastest for the first year of the ranking. The 14 Chinese brands appearing in the Top 100 grew their year-on-year value by 47%, compared to the US brands’ growth of 23%. E-commerce giant Alibaba, which ranks ninth, grew by 92% in the past year, while Tencent overtook Facebook.

Uber and Instagram made it into the Top 100 for the first time ( 81 and 91 respectively), with other newcomers including US telecoms company Spectrum and Indonesian bank BCA.

Vodafone retained its position as the most valuable brand in the UK, ranking 37^th in the global list. UK brands’ total value increasing by 7% to $140.24 bn, with three other UK brands appearing in the global ranking – HSBC (no.50 ), Shell (no.63 ) and BT (no.94 ).

Consumers perceive UK brands as less innovative, according to the research, which found that the average score for innovation across all UK brands is 102, compared with 110 for the global Top 100.

Jane Bloomfield, Kantar Millward Brown’s head of UK marketing at Kantar Millward Brown, said: “The UK’s value growth is more modest than that of the global ranking, but the strongest brands have risen to the top by retaining a sharp focus on listening to and engaging consumers and getting the experience right.”

The BrandZ™ Top 10 Most Valuable Global Brands 2018

The BrandZ™ Top 10 Most Valuable UK Brands 2018