Results of the latest BrandZ study by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown are out, and show continuing dominance of tech in the very top.
According to the study, the combined worth of the top 100 most valuable global brands has soared by 21% to reach $4.4 trillion, which is the highest growth on record. The brands that most contributed to such stunning growth were Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Alibaba, which combined added $748bn to the list.
In terms of sheer ranking, Google retained the top spot with value of $302.1bn, followed by Apple ($300.6bn), Amazon ($207.6bn), Microsoft (dropped from third with $201bn) and Tencent ($179bn).
However, the most impressive number from the Top 10 of this year’s list comes from Alibaba, which climbed into the elite crowd with 92% growth in value, to $113.4bn, making this the first time that China has two brands in the Top 10.
Doreen Wang, Kantar Millward Brown’s Global Head of BrandZ, commented: “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.”
