Top 100 Global Brands Declined in Value by 20% Since 2022

Despite turbulence brought on by an uncertain economy, Big Tech continues to lead the way in overall brand experience. Kantar’s annual BrandZ list, out today, sees Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon in the lead. For the second year in a row, Apple has claimed the No. 1 spot. The BrandZ list assesses brand value in relation to business financial performance, creating rankings of 100 companies based on both financial data analysis and brand equity research. The brand valuation score is determined by combining scores across both market perception and consumer perception of each business. The total brand value of the list is $6.9 trillion, a drop of $1.8 trillion or 20% from 2022 due to the shaky world economy. BBDO Canada, FCB New York and Apple London Win Big at The One Show Graham Staplehurst, global strategy director at Kantar, told Adweek that it was almost “a correction” after two years of "overly optimistic market perceptions" following the slowing of Covid-19. In fact, the 2022 list was up 23% from 2021. The top 10 brands are: Apple ($880.5 billion)Google ($577.7 billion)Microsoft ($501.7 billion)Amazon ($468.7 billion)McDonald’s ($191.1 billion)Visa ($169.1 billion)Tencent ($141 billion)Louis Vuitton ($124.8 billion)MasterCard ($110.6 billion)Coca-Cola ($106.1 billion) "What we're seeing now is that people have reversed those optimistic market perceptions," he added. "Of course, what we have had as well is the war in Ukraine, the oil price crisis and the inflation that's followed across the Western world. So it's natural that those perceptions will come down." Staplehurst said the current figure, based on prepandemic trends, is "where we would expect to be." The tech sector decreased 32% year-over-year, with the only platform showing growth being TikTok, which landed in 41st place. Top performing sectors and their YoY growth: 18% business, technology and services16% media and entertainment15% consumer tech and services12% retail10% financial services6% telecoms providers4% luxury 4% fast food2% alcohol, logistics, apparel, automotive, food & beverage, energy1% personal care There were two new entrants this year, both from China: fashion brand Shein and beverage company Nongfu Spring. Nine brands returned to the 2023 list after falling off in 2022, including Colgate (No. 95), Sony (No. 99) and Pampers (No. 100). Sixteen of the 100 brands grew in value, with India-based telecoms company Airtel growing the most at 24%, followed by Pepsi (17%) and Fanta (15%). Staplehurst expects to see Tesla rise next year from its current spot (No. 25) after Elon Musk announced the automaker will begin to advertise. Long Averse to Advertising, Tesla Takes a U-Turn. Here’s Why It Matters "There is plenty of opportunity still for brand building for Tesla, and for any brand in the sector. The difficulty is obviously, for automotive, there's always going to be more for the legacy brands," he said. One of Musk's other businesses, Twitter, did not make the list. The global tech battle The Business, Technology and Services sector saw total brand value decline 24%. The battle between the U.S. and China for tech supremacy was found to be affecting major brands on both sides of the Pacific. “They can't go as aggressively into China if they're a U.S. business. And they can't go as effectively into the U.S. if they're a Chinese business," said Staplehurst, adding, "That is being seen to hamper growth prospects." The list features a variety of brands that straddle b-to-b and b-to-c, including major winners from this year such as Airtel, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Visa and Amazon. This follows other recent research that discovered the best performing b-to-b businesses are the ones investing in brand-building campaigns over more traditional performance marketing. Why B-to-B Companies Are Investing More in Brand Marketing "They are some of the businesses that have demonstrated really effectively to the b-to-b side, how useful brand building is because they've seen the brand effects flow across from consumer work that they've done and they've learned how to apply it onto that side," said Staplehurst of the high performing companies that also have consumer experience. Staplehurst also claimed the "more interesting" b-to-b brands are those looking toward "more contemporary" fast-moving consumer goods models, flagging the emergence of brands such as visual communications platform Canva ($16 billion), which entered the Top 20 in the Business, Technology and Services category, alongside more established players such as Oracle, Tata and IT consultancy Infosys. According to the report, the reason behind the brand growth, aside from its various above-the-line and digital advertising campaigns running internationally, was that Canva is seen to possess brand equity across various markets such as Australia, Brazil and the U.S. alongside a brand purpose of improving the world through positive action, inclusion and diversity, and by empowering others to achieve their creative potential. In the section, 45% of brands were found to be building their reputations on their sustainability credentials, as opposed to 37% of messaging being around being the leader in the sector, 10% on fair pricing and 8% on driving success. Top 10 Business, Technology and Services brands: Microsoft ($501.9 billion)Amazon Web Services ($278.9 billion)Oracle ($92 billion)IBM ($87.7 billion)Accenture ($73.6 billion)Nvidia ($72.7 billion)Qualcomm ($54 billion)Adobe ($51.2 billion)Cisco ($47.2 billion)TCS ($42 billion) The future and AI The dominance of Big Tech is unlikely to change anytime soon. With generative AI tools starting to go mainstream, Staplehurst believes the next frontier in brand perception will be determined by how brands successfully adopt and utilize AI technologies. "Right now, the big question is around AI," he said. "No one knows how much money is going to be made out of AI, where it's going to be made, how it's going to be made."

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Top 100 Global Brands Declined in Value by 20% Since 2022

The 2023 Kantar BrandZ list continues to be dominated by tech giants

Stephen Lepitak

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