The brand value landscape: a lot has changed over the past 15 years

Brand Finance was set up in 1996 with the aim of bridging the gap between marketing and finance. A decade later, our analysts began to conduct public studies on the most valuable and strongest brands in the world. Now, celebrating 25 years in business and 15 years of brand rankings, Brand Finance performs more than 5,000 brand valuations a year, relying on ISO-certified methodology and insights from original market research, in order to publish nearly 100 reports annually that rank brands across all sectors and countries.

Our flagship report – the Brand Finance Global 500 – explores the dynamics shaping the industry-leading rankings of the world’s 500 most valuable and strongest brands. As we celebrate its 15th iteration, it is worth pausing to reflect on how profoundly the world has changed in this time. Even a quick glance at the data shows how different the brand landscape was at the start of 2007 compared to today.

To start with, brands are of far greater importance to business, which is reflected in the rise of brand values over the years. At $263 billion, this year’s ranking leader, Apple, is worth six times more than 2007’s number one, Coca-Cola. The combined value of the world’s top 100 brands has increased threefold from $1.5 trillion to $4.1 trillion over the past 15 years.

Recording just one year-on-year decline following the global financial crisis of 2008, the top 100 brands have seen a steady annual growth rate of 8% over this whole period, immune even to the effects of covid-19. While the pandemic wreaked havoc on the global economy and inflicted significant damage on smaller brands, the top 100 actually increased their worth by 5% in the year leading to the 2021 valuations – adapting relatively quickly to new market conditions and reinforcing their reputation as a safe haven for capital in times of uncertainty.

Nevertheless, maintaining relevance has proved a challenge for many brands that once topped our rankings. More than half (53) of those that made up the top 100 in 2007 no longer appear in the league table.

Competition has proved especially fierce at the very top. Microsoft and Walmart are the only brands from the original top 10 that remain in this elite club today. This year’s top three brands – Apple, Amazon and Google – all started a lot further down the rankings in 2007, while Facebook (seventh) was still a private company and WeChat (10th) did not even exist. Despite entering the race halfway through, the two social media giants have seen the highest annual growth rates among the top 10, at 55% and 36%, respectively. However, they lose to Amazon when it comes to overall brand value growth. The e-commerce giant has seen an astronomical 4,527% brand value increase from $5 billion in 2007 to $254 billion this year.

In addition to measuring brand value, Brand Finance also determines brand strength through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity and business performance. According to these criteria, Coca-Cola is the only brand in the top 100 to retain its AAA+ rating 15 years on. It may have lost its position as the world’s most valuable brand, but it remains the world’s favourite soda.

Indeed, while brands in many traditional sectors have hit their capacity in terms of brand value, for others, the sky is the limit as they capitalise on innovation – both in terms of the latest technological solutions and by adapting to customer needs faster than ever before.

In light of this, tech is the most valuable sector, accounting for 18% of total value among the world’s top 100 brands today. However, it is those spaces revolutionised by technological innovation – retail and media – that really dazzle with their performance over the past 15 years. Ranking second and third, the two industries have seen the fastest brand value growth in the top 100 among all large economic divisions, at 454% and 467%, respectively, as they benefit from the boom of e-commerce and the ascent of digital media. Oil and gas, and automobiles have also seen solid growth (259% and 257%) as they continue to enjoy high demand and gradually address the challenges and opportunities of energy transition.

Banking, however, tells a different story. Still recovering from reputational damage incurred in the global financial crisis and undermined by low interest rates as the global economy tries to bounce back from lockdowns, it has gone from being the top industry in 2007 to accounting for merely 10% and ranking fourth, soon to be overtaken by automobiles, in the number five spot. Banking has nine brands fewer in the top 100 today than it did 15 years ago – the worst result across all industries – and the lowest overall growth (48%) bar insurance (35%).

As banking and insurance brands have stagnated, another financial services sector has boomed. Commercial services has gained four brands in the top 100 and increased in value by 433%, testament to the conscious efforts of both B2C payment service and B2B professional service companies to invest in their brands over the years.

China is a perfect example of a country that has undertaken specific efforts to invest in brands. From having barely any presence among the world’s top 100 brands in 2007, the country has seen a staggering growth of 8,696% and now accounts for nearly one-quarter of the top 100’s total brand value. Chinese authorities and industry associations actively support the creation and development of brands and the country has made considerable efforts to foster a whole intangible asset accountability and best-practice ecosystem through the adoption of new standards and regulations, not to mention the introduction of National Brand Day celebrated annually on 10 May.

Although in competition with China’s growing potential, the United States has continued to hold its own over the past 15 years and still accounts for over half of the total brand value among the world’s top 100 brands. The US economy remains the world’s largest and healthy competition regulated by the free market alone has created a perfect environment for innovation and brand development – enabling the rise of global tech giants such as Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Facebook.

Other developed economies have seen mixed fortunes. Germany’s and Japan’s brand values within the top 100 have trebled over the past 15 years, but the United Kingdom’s presence has halved and France’s has diminished to just one-third of what it was in 2007.

From the rise of tech and the decline of financial services to the success of China and stagnation in the West, the past 15 years have seen a revolution in the brand value landscape. With the challenges of reviving the global economy after the covid-19 pandemic, growing inequalities within and between societies, and the irreversible impact of the climate crisis casting a shadow over our tomorrow, brands have an important role to play beyond value creation. It is their response to these issues that will determine their future.

Recording just one year-on-year decline following the global financial crisis of 2008, the top 100 brands have seen a steady annual growth rate of 8% over this whole period, immune even to the effects of covid-19. While the pandemic wreaked havoc on the global economy and inflicted significant damage on smaller brands, the top 100 actually increased their worth by 5% in the year leading to the 2021 valuations – adapting relatively quickly to new market conditions and reinforcing their reputation as a safe haven for capital in times of uncertainty.

Nevertheless, maintaining relevance has proved a challenge for many brands that once topped our rankings. More than half (53) of those that made up the top 100 in 2007 no longer appear in the league table.

Competition has proved especially fierce at the very top. Microsoft and Walmart are the only brands from the original top 10 that remain in this elite club today. This year’s top three brands – Apple, Amazon and Google – all started a lot further down the rankings in 2007, while Facebook (seventh) was still a private company and WeChat (10th) did not even exist. Despite entering the race halfway through, the two social media giants have seen the highest annual growth rates among the top 10, at 55% and 36%, respectively. However, they lose to Amazon when it comes to overall brand value growth. The e-commerce giant has seen an astronomical 4,527% brand value increase from $5 billion in 2007 to $254 billion this year.

In addition to measuring brand value, Brand Finance also determines brand strength through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity and business performance. According to these criteria, Coca-Cola is the only brand in the top 100 to retain its AAA+ rating 15 years on. It may have lost its position as the world’s most valuable brand, but it remains the world’s favourite soda.

Indeed, while brands in many traditional sectors have hit their capacity in terms of brand value, for others, the sky is the limit as they capitalise on innovation – both in terms of the latest technological solutions and by adapting to customer needs faster than ever before.

In light of this, tech is the most valuable sector, accounting for 18% of total value among the world’s top 100 brands today. However, it is those spaces revolutionised by technological innovation – retail and media – that really dazzle with their performance over the past 15 years. Ranking second and third, the two industries have seen the fastest brand value growth in the top 100 among all large economic divisions, at 454% and 467%, respectively, as they benefit from the boom of e-commerce and the ascent of digital media. Oil and gas, and automobiles have also seen solid growth (259% and 257%) as they continue to enjoy high demand and gradually address the challenges and opportunities of energy transition.

Banking, however, tells a different story. Still recovering from reputational damage incurred in the global financial crisis and undermined by low interest rates as the global economy tries to bounce back from lockdowns, it has gone from being the top industry in 2007 to accounting for merely 10% and ranking fourth, soon to be overtaken by automobiles, in the number five spot. Banking has nine brands fewer in the top 100 today than it did 15 years ago – the worst result across all industries – and the lowest overall growth (48%) bar insurance (35%).

As banking and insurance brands have stagnated, another financial services sector has boomed. Commercial services has gained four brands in the top 100 and increased in value by 433%, testament to the conscious efforts of both B2C payment service and B2B professional service companies to invest in their brands over the years.

China is a perfect example of a country that has undertaken specific efforts to invest in brands. From having barely any presence among the world’s top 100 brands in 2007, the country has seen a staggering growth of 8,696% and now accounts for nearly one-quarter of the top 100’s total brand value. Chinese authorities and industry associations actively support the creation and development of brands and the country has made considerable efforts to foster a whole intangible asset accountability and best-practice ecosystem through the adoption of new standards and regulations, not to mention the introduction of National Brand Day celebrated annually on 10 May.

Although in competition with China’s growing potential, the United States has continued to hold its own over the past 15 years and still accounts for over half of the total brand value among the world’s top 100 brands. The US economy remains the world’s largest and healthy competition regulated by the free market alone has created a perfect environment for innovation and brand development – enabling the rise of global tech giants such as Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Facebook.

Other developed economies have seen mixed fortunes. Germany’s and Japan’s brand values within the top 100 have trebled over the past 15 years, but the United Kingdom’s presence has halved and France’s has diminished to just one-third of what it was in 2007.

From the rise of tech and the decline of financial services to the success of China and stagnation in the West, the past 15 years have seen a revolution in the brand value landscape. With the challenges of reviving the global economy after the covid-19 pandemic, growing inequalities within and between societies, and the irreversible impact of the climate crisis casting a shadow over our tomorrow, brands have an important role to play beyond value creation. It is their response to these issues that will determine their future.