The world’s most iconic brands can be a moving target, changing subtly in value from year to year and industry to industry. Measuring their performance and identifying new players can be as much art as science. That is where a well-considered infographic can be useful.
There are companies whose unique, meme-like iconography have a strong impact on sales and shareholder value.
With this in mind, Kanter BrandZ, a company owned jointly by London-based advertising giant WPP and private equity player Bain & Company, has formulated an intriguing way to regard brand value and impact. With the help of Visual Capitalist it has expressed their findings in an innovative and compelling manner that invites comparison between companies and industries. The resulting infographic is one of clearest and most revealingI have seen in recent years.
Where’s Europe?
Among the more counter-intuitive study findings: Only two non U.S. companies are are the top ten list, Tencent and Alibaba, both of whom are based in China. Another perplexing result: Facebook rose two ranks this year to score the sixth spot with a brand value of $227 billion. Facebook, has faced mounting pressure over its use of user data and unfettered access, changed its name to Meta more than a year ago. Meta shares are down almost 50% in 2022.
Believe it or not JP Morgan, Chase and Bank of American, at around $20 billion each, are relatively peripheral players in the brand value universe as depicted by Kanter BrandZ. The leaders are Amazon at $640 billion and Apple $612, both at about 30 times greater brand value than the banks. Google $458 billion and Microsoft $410 are about 20 times more valuable.
Less familiar names on the fastest growing brands list: Pinduodou, an agriculture-focused technology platform that connects Chinese farmers and distributors with consumers directly through its interactive shopping experience; Meituan, a Chinese shopping platform for locally found consumer products and retail services, and Moutai, a distilled Chinese liquor. JD Sports Fashion plc, more commonly known as JD Sports or JD, is a British sports-fashion retail company based in the greater Manchester area.
The methodology:
- A brand’s total financial value, which is the financial contribution that brand brings to its parent company ($ value).
- Multiplied by its proportional value, measured by the brands proportional impact on its parent company’s sales (% value).
The financial results are then combined with quantitative survey data, sourced from over 170,000 global consumers. The end result is a holistic look at a company’s brand equity, reputation, and ability to generate value.
Key Insights
Kanter BrandZ says that notable patterns have emerged over the ten years it has been conducting the brand value study:
- The big get bigger
- Marketing makes a difference
- Smart investing in R&D generally matters
For the Visual Capitalist article, tap here.
Image source: Visual Capitalist via Kanter BrandZ
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