INTERNATIONAL. Interbrand has released its Best Global Brands 2021 report, which ranks brands by perceived monetary value (see methodology at the foot of this story).
The number one position is retained by technology giant Apple (brand value: (US$408.25 billion), and once again its closest rival Amazon has leapt significantly in brand value under Interbrand’s calculations to US$249.25 billion. This time, the rise in value was +24% following on from last year’s remarkable +60% growth.
This year, against a background of profound global economic, social and technological change, the 2021 Best 100 Global Brands list has recorded the largest value growth since Interbrand began rating brands via the initiative in 2001.
The combined value of the top 100 brands increased from US$2,326.49 billion in 2020 to US$2,667.53 billion in 2021, an overall increase of +15%.
The average brand value increase in 2021 was +10%, significantly larger than the +1.3% recorded in 2020, owing largely to the economic disruption caused by COVID-19.
The fastest-growing, most valuable and top-performing sector remains technology. The digital trends that have underpinned strong growth in this sector continue to accelerate. The different professional and personal ways in which consumers rely on cloud-based technology, artificial intelligence, streaming and subscription-based services bolster the tech sector further.
Technology’s representation in the rankings clearly reflects this. The top three brands, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft, make up 62.3% of the total value of the top ten brands.
There was a notable resurgence in the value of luxury brands in this year’s list. Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, all but Hermès (unchanged) fell in value.
It is a very different story this time, with all of the big luxury names rising significantly in value. Louis Vuitton (#16, US$36.77 billion) remains comfortably the leading luxury brand under Interbrand’s methodology, rising +16% in brand value this year.
Meanwhile, Chanel is up +4% (#22, US$22.1 billion), Hermès +20% (#23, US$21.2 billion), Gucci +6% (#33, US$16.66 billion), Cartier +9% (#73, US$8.16 billion), Dior +17% (#77, US$7.02 billion), Tiffany & Co. +10% (#92, US$5.48 billion), Prada +20% (#94, US$5.42 billion) and Burberry +8% (#97, US$5.19 billion).
Sephora (#100) is the only new entrant to the rankings this year, but its addition makes LVMH Group the biggest group entity in the table. LVMH is the first group to have five brands in the Best Global Brands table – Sephora, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany & Co. and Hennessy.
The top alcohol brands in the top 100 this year were Budweiser (#37), Corona (#78), Jack Daniel’s (#81), Heineken (#89), and Hennessy (#91). Johnnie Walker fell out of the top 100 after entering it for the first time last year.
Following its re-entry to the table last year, Tesla (#14) was the fastest-growing brand of 2021, with an unprecedented +184% increase in brand value.
Tesla also saw the largest rise in rankings, moving 26 places up the table, closely followed by Salesforce.com (moving up 20 places to #38) and PayPal (up 18 to #42).
You can access the full Interbrand Best Global Brands 2021 report and analysis here.
NOTE: Methodology
There are three key pieces of analysis that form the basis of Interbrand’s valuation methodology:
- The financial performance of the branded products or services
- The role the brand plays in purchase decisions
- The brand’s competitive strength and its ability to create loyalty and, therefore, sustainable demand and profit into the future
The research covers the period between 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021, analysis was undertaken between June and September 2021.
