Google remains the most valuable brand in the world in 2018. The US internet giant increased its brand value by +23% compared to the previous year to 302.1 billion US dollars. Runner-up Apple grew by +28% and once again came in a close second with a brand value of USD 300.6 billion. The retail giant Amazon increased by +49% and is in third place for the first time with a brand value of 207.6 billion US dollars. Almost all brands in the top 10 belong to the dominant technology category or are related to the tech industry. Brands from the tech environment also represent over half (56%) of the total brand value of the top 100. The most valuable German - and also European - brand is SAP. The software company increased its brand value by +23% to 55.4 billion US dollars and moved up four places in the current ranking to 17th place.
Kantar Millward Brown, one of the world's leading market research and consulting companies, publishes the international brand value study BrandZ for the 13th time. The world's most valuable brands are analyzed using a combination of key financial figures and a survey of over three million consumers worldwide. The total value of the world's 100 most valuable brands is growing faster than ever before this year by 750 billion US dollars (+21 percent) to 4.4 trillion US dollars.
"The total value of the Top 100 has grown by 21% year-on-year, more than ever before. Both young and long-established brands are responsible for this growth. The recipe for success of strong brands is based on a mixture of courage and trust in the respective business model as well as a long-term brand strategy. Brands that use data and modern technologies such as artificial intelligence or augmented reality wisely and implement their marketing activities creatively will continue to increase their value in the future," explains Bernd Büchner, Managing Director of Kantar Millward Brown in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
| Rank 2018 | Brand | Category | Brand value 2018 (billion US dollars) | Change in brand value | Rank 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Technology | 302,063 | 23 percent | 1 | |
| 2 | Apple | Technology | 300,595 | 28 percent | 2 |
| 3 | Amazon | Retail | 207,594 | 49 percent | 4 |
| 4 | Microsoft | Technology | 200,987 | 40 percent | 3 |
| 5 | Tencent | Technology | 178,990 | 65 percent | 8 |
Chinese brands with enormous growth momentum
There are now 14 Chinese brands in the top 100. By comparison, when BrandZ was first published in 2006, only China Mobile was among the 100 most valuable brands in the world. In the current ranking, the internet group Tencent is already in 5th place with a brand value of 179 billion US dollars (+65% compared to the previous year). One reason for its success: Tencent's messaging app WeChat now has over one billion user accounts. The overall growth momentum in China is enormous: the total value of the Chinese top 10 increased by +47% compared to the previous year, while the US brands only grew by +23%. Chinese brands are also ahead in terms of the biggest leaps in growth: online retailer JD.com (59th place) made the biggest leap with +94% and achieved a brand value of 20.9 billion US dollars. Alibaba increased its global reach through advertising measures and, on this basis, its brand value by +92 percent to 113.4 billion US dollars. The e-commerce platform thus enters the top 10 (9th place) for the first time. The third strongest growth momentum is also shown by a Chinese company: spirits producer Moutai increased its brand value by +89% and is ranked 34th in the ranking with 32.1 billion US dollars. Brands from India and Indonesia also recorded strong regional growth. The BrandZ Top 100 includes seven Asian brands (excluding China), which grew by +14 percent and achieved a total value of 146 billion US dollars. The regional bank BCA is the first Indonesian brand in the top 100 with a brand value of 12.7 billion US dollars (rank 99).
Automotive sector: Toyota ahead of Mercedes-Benz and BMW
Toyota remains the most valuable car brand in 2018. The Japanese company increased its brand value by 5 percent to 30 billion US dollars. Behind Toyota, Mercedes-Benz (25.7 billion US dollars, +9%) overtook BMW (25.6 billion US dollars) to take second place in the industry ranking of car manufacturers this year. Audi grew by +3 percent and achieved a brand value of 9.6 billion US dollars. The Ingolstadt-based company thus once again took 7th place in the industry ranking, but failed to make it into the top 100. While Porsche failed to make it into the top 10 this year, Volkswagen is once again one of the ten most valuable car brands with a brand value of 6 billion US dollars. Also new in the industry ranking is the Indian car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki in 9th place with a brand value of 6.4 billion US dollars. Tesla in particular is showing rapid growth: The US brand increased its value by 60 percent and ranks 8th among car brands with a brand value of 9.4 billion US dollars.
Retail sector grows particularly strongly at +35 percent
The retail sector is once again the fastest-growing category: the 20 most valuable retail brands in the ranking grew by an average of +35%. Online retailers are primarily responsible for this strong development, almost doubling their brand values in some cases (JD.com, Alibaba). Industry leader Amazon also contributed to the very strong overall result of the retailers with its 49% increase in value. Aldi and Lidl are among the traditional retail brands that have developed their brand value well in the past year. Aldi increased its brand value by +12% to 13.8 billion US dollars. Lidl even grew by +14% and, with a brand value of 8.2 billion US dollars in 15th place, is already within sight of the slightly better-placed US retailers CVS and Walgreens.
Newcomers: Spectrum, Uber and Instagram in the top 100 for the first time
In addition to brands such as JD.com and HP, which were last represented in the Top 100 in 2016 and returned this year, several brands made the leap into the brand elite for the first time in 2018: US telecommunications company Spectrum is a newcomer in 27th place with a brand value of 39.4 billion US dollars. Uber and Instagram are also new to the list. With a brand value of 16.1 billion US dollars, the online passenger transportation service Uber is in 81st place, while Instagram has a brand value of 14.5 billion US dollars, putting it in 91st place.
"High-growth brands such as Amazon or Tencent have developed into leading companies because, on the one hand, they have an excellent command of the keyboard of technology and data-based marketing and, on the other, they always put the consumer at the center of their activities. On this basis, many of the world's most valuable brands and their diverse services ensure consistent, seamless customer experiences across the various platforms used by today's consumers," concludes Bernd Büchner.
Google remains the world's most valuable brand in 2017. With a year-on-year increase in brand value of +7 percent to now 245.6 billion U.S. dollars, the internet company defends its top position in the BrandZ brand value study published annually. Apple and Microsoft also recorded growth in their brand values of +3 percent (234.7 billion U.S. dollars) and +18 percent (143.2 billion U.S. dollars), thus remaining in second and third place. Amazon made a big leap in this year's ranking - the retail giant catapulted from seventh to fourth place with the second-highest growth rate of the top 100 at +41 percent and a brand value of 139.3 billion U.S. dollars.
Kantar Millward Brown, one of the world's leading market research and consulting companies, publishes the Brand Value Study for the twelfth time. The world's most valuable brands are analyzed using a combination of financial metrics and a survey of over three million consumers worldwide. The total value of the top 100 brands increased by +8 percent this year to 3.64 trillion US dollars.
"A strong brand has a high strategic importance for companies. This is reflected in the positive development of the brands in the top 10. This year, consumer-oriented technology brands stand out in particular. Amazon in particular, with its considerable increase in brand value, illustrates the importance of a holistic approach. With different offers from a single source and across diverse end devices - from online shopping to television - the retailer simplifies the complex world for consumers with its services," says Bernd Büchner, Managing Director of Kantar Millward Brown in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Tech brands dominate the top 10
This year's ranking is dominated by the technology giants Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook in the top five places. The top five earn the designation "Fearsome Five" through their 25 percent share of the total brand value of the top 100 in the current BrandZ ranking. All seven newcomers to the top 100 are also tech brands - including YouTube, Snapchat, Netflix and Salesforce. Amazon represents the retail sector as well as the technology sector and scores with a technological ecosystem clearly tailored to consumer needs, which also includes innovative approaches in the areas of delivery concepts or artificial intelligence.
For the first time, the Chinese brand Tencent is among the top 10 with a brand value of 108.3 billion US dollars (+27 percent). One of the main reasons for the positive development of the Internet group is the increased use of the messaging app WeChat. Swiss brands did not make it into the top 100.
| Rank 2017 | Brand | Category | Brand value 2017 (USD billion) | Change in brand value | Rank 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Technology | 245,581 | 7% | 1 | |
| 2 | Apple | Technology | 234,671 | 3% | 2 |
| 3 | Microsoft | Technology | 143,222 | 18% | 3 |
| 4 | Amazon | Retail | 139,286 | 41% | 7 |
| 5 | Technology | 129,800 | 27% | 5 |
For the third year in a row, the digital experts at the international market research and consulting company Kantar Millward Brown are looking at the opportunities and challenges of digital marketing as part of the Getting Digital Right study. The results of the study are based on a survey of more than 300 marketing decision-makers from companies, media and agencies in the USA. Four key findings of the current study are:
Fragmented consumer behavior
Consumer behavior is changing rapidly. The Consumer Decision Journey shows a clear evolution away from a straightforward purchase decision process to a complex decision process characterized by both well-informed consumers and an oversupply of information. The results of the study suggest that a large proportion of companies have not yet found a solution to this challenge: This is because 55 percent of the marketing decision-makers surveyed deny their organization's ability to understand the consumer journey of its own target groups in detail - which creates uncertainty when it comes to selecting the right marketing mix. Just under a third (32 percent) of respondents say their organization has found a good balance between traditional and digital activities. By contrast, half (50 percent) express doubts about the effective composition of current marketing measures.
"Increasingly complex consumer behavior is unsettling marketing decision-makers. If you don't know the relevant touchpoints, you can't build a relationship with your consumers. Marketing can only use its resources efficiently if it is clear who is being reached when, via which channel, and with which activities. Otherwise, messages will have no impact and brands will miss good opportunities to interact with target groups. In terms of understanding customers and their media behavior, many organizations have a lot of catching up to do," says Bernd Büchner, Managing Director of Kantar Millward Brown in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Lack of solution for measurement of ROI
The respondents from companies, media and agencies agree that measuring the return on investment (ROI) is currently the greatest challenge for marketing. They are particularly concerned about the measurability of the effects of measures in the areas of content marketing and events and conferences. In the coming years, therefore, increasing spending is expected in particular on market research tools that help to quantify the ROI of marketing activities more concretely. Solutions in this area would help the industry to achieve significant growth: This is because nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of marketing decision-makers would increase their investments in digital channels if ROI could be better demonstrated than it is today. With regard to cross-channel activities, 71 percent would then increase their spending and 43 percent in traditional channels.
Data-based marketing approaches on the rise
The buzzword "big data" is becoming increasingly important in marketing: the marketers surveyed are generally positive about their own organization's ability to collect and use data for marketing activities. At 41 percent, confidence in the evaluation of big data has risen significantly among companies compared with the previous year (14 percent). Among marketing decision-makers in media companies (59 percent) and agencies (60 percent), however, the affinity for data is even more pronounced. The increased trust in data-based marketing is also reflected in the fact that respondents forecast rising research budgets in the coming years - especially for measuring ROI, consumer behavior along the consumer journey, and in the area of advertising effectiveness research.
Understanding of overarching strategies
Consumers today expect a consistent brand experience across all channels. The reality, however, is that a good quarter (26 percent) of the organizations surveyed still have difficulty implementing integrated activities with coordinated messages. The positive news is that there is a growing understanding of overarching strategies that effectively combine traditional and digital measures. While 74 percent of respondents today say they develop integrated marketing strategies, only 67 percent (2015) and 59 percent (2014) did so in previous years. If the focus is directed exclusively to digital marketing, it becomes apparent that the coordination of activities still offers plenty of potential for improvement here as well: Around a third (33 percent) state that the marketing measures in the individual online channels do not pursue an overriding objective.
"The study shows that, compared to the previous year, decision-makers have become much more intensively involved with digital marketing and the associated opportunities. The greatest attention is paid to ROI. However, further efforts are needed to understand the digital consumer even better," says DACH Region Managing Director Büchner.
Marketing managers will therefore focus even more on online and mobile advertising in 2016. "In order to strengthen brand perception and appeal to new target groups, companies will have to develop even more targeted creative content in the future. As mobile devices are increasingly influencing consumers' media and consumer behavior, marketing decision-makers will have to devote more resources to adapting advertising to the requirements of smartphones and tablets," says Bernd Büchner, Managing Director of Millward Brown in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Millward Brown has identified a total of seven digital and media trends for 2016:
Content marketing continues to gain ground: More and more companies are becoming content developers in 2016. With the help of content marketing, brands can engage with consumers in real time and improve brand perception or acquire new customers. To be successful, however, the content developed must be creative, authentic and, last but not least, tangible. In the age of ad blockers and broad targeting in traditional media, content marketing could become the holy grail of the communications industry - as long as the results are matched by an ROI.
Customer Journey 2.0: Consistent brand management across all touchpoints: Marketers need to rethink the customer journey if they want to drive brand growth while meeting sales targets. As digital technologies and platforms have changed consumer behavior and entire business practices, successful marketing decision-makers in 2016 are abandoning silo thinking and bringing media and sales teams together. As a result, detailed consumer journey paths can be developed that show the path from initial brand or product awareness to purchase. However, in order to generate sustainable growth, consistent brand management must take place across all touchpoints.
Online and mobile dominate the media mix: The "one size fits all" principle has become obsolete in media planning. In addition, online and mobile are not just two additional channels, but are independent media formats that require specific content and involve different levels of activation. Accordingly, there is media content that is well suited to attracting attention to a brand or product, while other formats promote sales. Marketers therefore need to differentiate between how and where consumers consume content - not between platforms and technologies. The optimal media mix today consists not only of TV and radio, out-of-home, print, online and mobile, but also includes online video content, news and information sites, content hubs, social media, gaming elements and online commerce.
Online video advertising is the fastest-growing advertising format: Due to increasing video consumption on mobile devices, online videos remain the fastest-growing advertising format. Research by Millward Brown shows that online ads are a cost-effective way to increase a brand's reach and effectiveness beyond TV advertising. The majority of online video traffic in 2016 will be mobile - which will lead to a change in advertising video formats and corresponding business models, for example in the area of new billing modalities: marketers can choose between cost-per-impression (CPM), cost-per-view (CPV) and cost-per-completed-view (CPCV). As the majority of consumers reject non-skippable videos, marketers should already include digital formats in the creation phase and make them usable across all screens - otherwise advertising spend will be wasted unnecessarily.
Above all, mobile advertising must be effective: As consumers spend a considerable amount of time on mobile devices every day, mobile advertising remains a popular advertising tool. Marketers will therefore continue to spend a high proportion of their advertising spend on it in 2016. Although mobile advertising content is an effective means of reaching customers, there are also challenges in terms of acceptance and creativity. As in the online sector, marketing managers need to incorporate their mobile plans into the creative development process as early as possible.
Networked television will not replace traditional TV commercials for the time being: Internet-enabled televisions are permanently changing TV usage behavior and the way consumers consume commercials. Among other things, they open the door to on-demand content and thus to ad-free platforms. At the same time, personalized advertising reduces wastage by directing advertising content to the right target group and allowing smaller local brands to use television as an advertising medium. In 2016, smart TVs do not yet pose an immediate threat to traditional advertising formats. In the medium term, however, there will be a turning point that will have a major impact on the future of television advertising.
Header bidding is driving change in programmatic advertising: Header bidding continues to gain in importance in 2016 - and thus contributes to an improvement in programmatic advertising. Media buyers in particular benefit from header bidding, as the process is more transparent and they are shown both the placement and target group of the website before placing a bid. But publishers also benefit from header bidding: they have more control over their advertising inventory and can generate more revenue. Nevertheless, marketers are faced with the challenge of finding the right balance and formula for success in the allocation of ad tags when it comes to viewability in programmatic advertising. In addition to a great deal of effort, this also requires effective cooperation between the companies involved.
"Advertising campaigns can now be increasingly tailored to specific target groups. Thanks to technologies such as connected TV or content marketing strategies, marketers will be able to deliver appealing content to the relevant targets and reach them in a creative and effective way," says Büchner.
A detailed overview of digital and media trends for 2016 is available on the Website from Millward Brown is available for download.
]]>In the age of digitalization, marketers are faced with the task of recognizing the potential of new technologies and developing creative, efficient marketing strategies. The digital experts at international marketing and market research company Millward Brown have compiled the key opportunities and challenges of digital marketing in the "Getting Digital Right 2015" study. Over 400 marketing decision-makers from companies and agencies in the USA were surveyed for this purpose.
The four key findings of the study are as follows:
Big data is not the same as smart data: Everyone is talking about big data. And marketing also has high hopes for data analysis in the long term. However, the initial euphoria seems to be over: only 14% of study participants are currently convinced that the available data will be used efficiently. This result is all the more astonishing given that the confidence of the marketing experts surveyed last year was 39%.
Traditional research tools are still in demand: From the point of view of marketing managers, customer surveys (67%) and reach measurements (61%) still provide the most reliable target group-specific data. Nevertheless, the majority (70%) believe that behavioral science findings will become increasingly important for marketing in the next three years.
RoI as the most important key figure: 80% of the marketing experts surveyed would increase their advertising budgets for the mobile and digital channels, and 74% for social media, if the additional expenditure had a positive impact on the return on investment (ROI). For half of those surveyed, ROI is still the most important criterion for the allocation of media budgets. This is why many marketers focus on measuring ROI. And it is precisely in this area that many marketing decision-makers see enormous potential for improvement.
Need to optimize the media mix: Only half of media managers and a quarter of product managers are convinced by their current media mix. However, over 50 percent of marketing managers rate the ability to address specific target groups as a key factor in the allocation of media budgets.
"Marketing decision-makers are currently trying to keep pace with the speed of digitalization in recent years. Ultimately, it's about precisely understanding digital consumers and their decisions, integrating alternative research tools and reorganizing media budgets in order to achieve an improved return on investment," says Dr. Bernd Büchner, Managing Director of Millward Brown in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Millward Brown
The global market research company Millward Brown is a global expert in advertising, marketing, communications, media and brand equity research. Through an integrated range of proven qualitative and quantitative market research tools, Millward Brown helps clients build strong brands and services. Millward Brown currently has more than 56 offices. The company is part of the Kantar Group, the global network for research, insights and marketing consulting. Millward Brown is part of the global agency holding WPP Group.
Marketing decision-makers should therefore test the communication of brand values and messages in their online campaign. Other important results of the analysis:
- Size matters: The wallpaper format achieves five times the ad awareness of standard Flash banners.
- Video content enhances the campaign: Online videos produce significantly better results than flash banners for brand awareness as well as for linking to the messages of a campaign.
- The success of the creation is decided in the first few seconds: Without a clear message and brand name in the first two seconds of an animated banner, the campaign loses much of its impact.
- Bookings in ad networks weaken the brand: The purchase of cost-optimized clicks in so-called ad networks has a clearly disproportionately low contribution to all brand values.
The Ad Index is designed to help optimize the potential of digital measures. This applies, for example, to the definition of efficient contact classes and budget allocation to different online advertising formats or advertising environments. In the diagnosis, the Ad Index provides information on how the strengths and weaknesses profile of the advertising medium is perceived in the creative implementation in order to round off the recommendations for campaign optimization.
The company has been operating in Switzerland from Geneva since 2006. The opening of an office in Zurich is the natural result of the expansion of services for clients such as Feldschlösschen and Kraft Foods Europe, for whom Millward Brown acts as a global market research agency, according to a press release issued on Monday. Against the backdrop of the current uncertain financial situation, more and more companies are seeking to quantify and optimize the profitability of their marketing and advertising expenditure. This area is one of Millward Brown's core tasks.
The Zurich branch is located at Binzmühlestrasse 170d, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland.
According to calculations by Millward Brown Optimor, the value of the Apple brand has increased by 859 percent since 2006 and currently stands at USD 153.3 billion, as was reported in a press release. Apple is therefore worth 84 percent more than in the last study a year ago. Another important finding in the study was that the total value of all brands in the top 100 increased by 17 percent during last year's economic upswing and now stands at USD 2.4 trillion. In terms of geographical distribution, the 2011 BrandZ study revealed that 19 of the top 100 brands are now accounted for by companies in the "BRIC markets", compared to just two in 2006.
Rolex remains the most valuable luxury brand in Switzerland, with an increase of 11 percent since last year's ranking.
Zurich Insurance is in 9th place in the insurance ranking, an improvement of 4% compared to 2010.
The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor, identifies the 100 most valuable brands in the world based on their value in US dollars. The analysis is based on a combination of financial data and consumer opinions on brand value.
(Image Apple logo: Keystone)
Based in Geneva, Emmanuelle Reignoux will manage two large European FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) clients, focusing on brand value creation and marketing communication optimization. Emmanuelle has 15 years of experience in marketing and market research and has previously managed international FMCG and technology clients. She has spent the last six years as Head of Telecommunications & Internet at Ipsos in France and as Business Unit Head at Ipsos Marketing in Switzerland. She has held leadership roles in ad hoc research, including segmentation and equity work, as well as in innovation - conceptualization, product testing, packaging and pricing studies.
This is the only way for brands to ensure they have a presence wherever their customers are looking for them. They would also have to decide whether to offer different content on Twitter or Facebook than on their own website, according to Sana Carlton, Managing Director of Millward Brown.
In addition to this main trend, the market research institute has identified ten other trends: The Online Shopping will grow and continue to develop. The lack of «tangibility» of the products can be overcome through augmented reality. Due to Online Displays in New Formats There would be an increasing effort to integrate brand messages into the ad itself, for example, using expandable formats and interactive features that display a section of a microsite or social media page. In addition, there would be Viral Videos is playing an increasingly important role in digital campaigns.
In addition, advertising executives would focus more on optimizing their online video campaigns in 2011, and there would be more Web-specific video content ... The budgets for mobile advertising campaigns would be affected by the growing Target Audience for Mobile Advertising grow significantly. Brand manufacturers would also increasingly Geolocation Services use to track their location—for example, apps like Shopkick, which automatically award points or send offers when users enter a store. Thanks to services like Facebook Places and Foursquare, more and more brands are using location data—possibly in conjunction with data from loyalty cards.
Search engines would more personal, more mobile, and more effective. Millward Brown believes that consumers will be willing to compromise on privacy in exchange for more relevant search results. Search results will also be presented in a more visually appealing way, so marketers will need to understand how search affects their brand.
There will also be further innovations in 2011 regarding the Development of New Games . In addition to growth in social gaming, the capabilities of Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch are also expected to attract more casual gamers. Brand placement in games could be a successful strategy here, provided the brand is a good fit for the game (according to Dynamic Logic). The research institute cites the Integrating Brands into Social Networks . Finally, it should be noted that the The Battle for Data Protection on the Internet increase, as consumers' power in this regard grows.
For more information and the full report:www.millwardbrown.com.