Interbrand has revealed its Best Global Brands for the 20th year with (somewhat depressingly) Apple ($234bn, below), Google and Amazon occupying their customary top three places.
Others in the top ten are Microsoft at 4, Coca-Cola 5, Samsung 6, Toyota 7, Mercedes-Benz 8, McDonald’s 9 and Disney 10. Facebook, which has been firefighting on all fronts even as the money rolls in, drops five places from nine to 14.
New entrants include Uber (87) and LinkedIn (98). Mastercard increased its brand value by 25 per cent to rise from 70 to 62.
Interbrand reckons that the combined total value of the Top 100 is $2130bn, an increase of 5.7 per cent from 2018.
Interbrand global CEO Charles Trevail says: “For decades, the entire discipline of brand-building was based on the concept of brand positioning, but in today’s accelerating markets, customer expectations outstrip static brand positions. Brands can no longer be considered separate to businesses and will be judged on what they do, not just what they say; and on trust, not just delivery.
“The age of brand positioning is over. In a world where customer expectations will continue to move faster than businesses, static brand positions and incremental change will just about keep brands in the game – but it will take, brave, we would say ‘iconic’, moves, to make brands leap ahead of customer expectations and ultimately deliver extraordinary business results.”
The full report is here.
