Brand Finance Press Release – EMBARGO until 00:01 1st February 2018
Amazon – Prime Spot in Brand Finance Global 500 Ranking
· Valued at over US$150 billion, Amazon becomes the world’s most valuable brand
· Apple and Google left behind as they fail to follow Amazon’s growth model
· Facebook’s jump to 5th place sanctions the dawn of the digital era for brands
· China’s share of global brand value increases from 3% to 15% over 10 years
· Disney set to keep spreading its magic as it becomes the strongest brand
View the full list of the world’s 500 most valuable brands here
Amazon is the world’s most valuable brand, ahead of Apple and Google, according to the latest Brand Finance Global 500 report. The e-commerce giant’s brand value increased by 42% year on year to a whopping US$150.8 billion.
Since the brand’s humble beginnings as an online bookstore, Amazon has become the world’s largest internet business by both market capitalisation and revenue. It is no longer just an online retailer, but also a provider of cloud infrastructure and a producer of electronics. Now, it is moving beyond the digital space, as last year’s takeover of Whole Foods for US$13.7 billion gave the brand a foothold in the realm of bricks and mortar. Amazon is also present in shipping, music and video streaming, alongside industry speculation on an impending bank acquisition in 2018.
David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance, commented:
“Jeff Bezos once said that ‘brands are more important online than they are in the physical world’. He has proved himself right by choosing the name Amazon, known as the largest, most powerful river in the world, as 23 years later the Amazon brand carries all before it as an unstoppable force. The strength and value of the Amazon brand gives it stakeholder permission to extend relentlessly into new sectors and geographies. All evidence suggests that the amazing Amazon brand is going to continue growing indefinitely and exponentially.”
Amazon’s expansive growth strategy leaves Apple and Google behind
Although Apple defended 2nd place in the ranking, with brand value rebounding to US$146.3 billion after the 27%-decline last year, its future looks bleak. Apple has failed to diversify and grown over-dependent on sales of its flagship iPhones, responsible for two thirds of revenue. Poor Q4 2017 sales of iPhone X at only 29 million handsets fell short of expectations, and the model is predicted to be discontinued later this year. With the advent of emerging world brands like Huawei, Apple’s increasing focus on what are effectively luxury products may cost the brand a fair share of the global mass market, limiting the potential for brand value growth.
Google has dropped from 1st to 3rd position, recording a relatively slow brand value growth of 10% to US$120.9 billion. Google’s online ads generated more traffic than expected as aggregated paid clicks rose by 47% in Q3 2017, boosting revenues. However, to compete with the world’s most valuable brands, presenting a solid performance is not always enough. Google is a champion in internet search, cloud and mobile OS technology but, similarly to Apple, its focus on particular sectors is holding it back from unleashing the full potential of its brand. Google’s investments in self-driving cars and handsets still lack the scale and audacity demonstrated by Amazon’s new ventures. Nevertheless, the acquisition of 2,000 HTC smartphone staffers for US$1.1 billion indicates a shift to a more expansive approach.
Digital era is now as technology brands make their way up the ranks
For the first time since the inception of the Brand Finance Global 500 study, technology brands claim all top 5 places in the league table. Samsung (4th, US$92.3 billion) and Facebook (5th, US$89.7 billion) both recorded impressive year-on-year brand value growth of 39% and 45% respectively, overtaking AT&T (6th, US$82.4 billion). Change at the top is reflective of a wider global trend as the technology sector accounts for more than twice as much brand value as telecoms.
The dominance of digital is set to grow even more in the coming years as other brands make their way up the Global 500. Google-owned YouTube more than doubled its brand value to US$25.9 billion, jumping 70 places to 42nd. Chinese technology brands, taking advantage of captive market conditions, can also boast high brand value growth, with Alibaba (12th), Tencent (21st), WeChat (49th), Baidu (57th), JD (65th), and NetEase (121st), going up by an average of 67% year on year.
Chinese brands narrow the gap with global counterparts
The growth of Chinese brands extends beyond the technology sector as the country continues to narrow the value gap with the United States at an impressive rate. Since 2008, China’s share of global brand value has increased from 3% to 15%, growing 888% to $US 911.5 billion in 2018. It comes as no surprise that State Grid, a state-owned utilities company from China, is the largest new entrant to the Brand Finance Global 500 this year, claiming 19th place with a brand value of US$40.9 billion. In addition, the fastest-growing brand of 2018 also comes from China. The spirit industry champion Wuliangye grew a striking 161% to US$14.6 billion year on year, rising 184 ranks to 100th.
David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance, commented:
“The growth of Chinese brands is once again the standout story in our annual study of the world’s most valuable brands. Since the 19th Party Congress in 2017, there has been a renewed emphasis on brand development by Chinese companies in all sectors. Interestingly, while China had been pursuing a dual strategy of building home-grown brands but also acquiring underperforming international brands, like Volvo and Pirelli, the emphasis is now firmly on home-grown brands. Brands like Huawei, Ping An, State Grid, Evergrande, ICBC, Yili, Haval, Wuliangye, and many others are now being recognised worldwide as quality brands. We expect to see this develop rapidly in more and more sectors.”
World’s strongest brand Disney set to keep spreading magic
With a brand strength index (BSI) score of 92.3, up from 91.3 last year, Disney is the world’s strongest brand and one of the most interesting to watch in the coming years. In light of its recent purchase of a majority stake in 21st Century Fox, Disney can further develop its brand to deliver for more consumers worldwide. The addition of companies like: Star India – which reaches hundreds of millions of viewers on the subcontinent, Sky – with presence across the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, and Italy, as well as a 60% stake in Hulu – arguably one of Netflix’s biggest competitors, means that Disney can now leverage its greater international exposure to establish its brand as much more than a children’s favourite.
ENDS
Note to Editors
Every year, leading valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance values the world’s biggest brands. The 500 most valuable brands in the world are included in the Brand Finance Global 500 league table.
Brand value is equal to a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand. Brand strength is used to determine what proportion of a business’s revenue is contributed by the brand.
More information about the methodology as well as definitions of key terms are available in the Brand Finance Global 500 report.
For an infographic and additional analysis on the most valuable brands by region, including Etisalat (Middle East and Africa), Mercedes-Benz (Europe), Pemex (Latin America), Samsung (Asia), and Telstra (Australasia), please also consult the Brand Finance Global 500 report.
Data compiled for the Brand Finance Global 500 league table and report is provided for the benefit of the media and is not to be used for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
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Third Party Provides Path to Improved Water Data Methodologies/Accuracy
Salt Lake City, Utah – A third party review of Utah’s water data gathering and analysis methods, as part of the 2016 Legislative session’s S.B. 251, was released today. The third party review was conducted by Bowen Collins and Associates and Hansen, Allen and Luce Inc.
“The purpose of this report was to have a different set of eyes evaluate what we do, and make recommendations about how we can do better,” said Rachel Shilton, DWRe State River Basin Planning Section Manager.
The analysis found that the State’s water use data collection and analysis have improved over the years, and resulted in accurate potable (drinking water quality) use estimates. The report also includes helpful recommendations about taking system inefficiencies, water lost in the system through leaking pipes for example, into account.
The report found flaws in the inputs used for secondary water estimation, resulting in significant underestimations of secondary water supply and use.
“Adjusting those inputs will improve secondary water estimate accuracy; however, Utah needs universal Secondary Water Metering to avoid estimating in the first place,” said Todd Adams, DWRe Deputy Director. “We need to measure what matters, and water really matters.”
The document also makes recommendations related to streamlined categorization, and the potential evaluation of a sub-set of smaller systems being evaluated rather than all small systems to reduce evaluation time. The divisions of Water Rights and Water Resources will likely continue to evaluate all smaller systems, in accordance with Legislative Audit recommendations.
“We have now received very helpful guidance from both the Legislative Auditor’s Office and this third-party analysis,” said Candice Hasenyager, DWRe Assistant Director over water planning. “We are dedicated to improvement, and these resources identified a helpful path.”
The division will apply these recommendations to the 2015 water use data and analysis, and use the updated dataset as the new statewide baseline. It is estimated that the updated analysis will be available in spring 2018.
The full third-party analysis, as well as the 2015 Legislative Audit and 2017 Legislative Audit follow up reports, can be found on the following web page: https://water.utah.gov/waterdata.html. An executive summary of the third-party analysis is attached.
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With couples spending an average of over $35,000 on their wedding and the industry growing to $76 billion in revenue, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2018’s Best Places to Get Married.
To help couples find the most wedding-friendly destinations, WalletHub compared more than 180 of the biggest U.S. cities across 23 key indicators of cost-effectiveness, convenience and enjoyment. The data set ranges from average wedding cost to venues and event spaces per capita to hotel availability.
Best Places to Get Married in the U.S.
1
Orlando, FL
11
Austin, TX
2
Las Vegas, NV
12
Seattle, WA
3
Atlanta, GA
13
Tampa, FL
4
Los Angeles, CA
14
Tucson, AZ
5
Miami, FL
15
Houston, TX
6
San Diego, CA
16
St. Louis, MO
7
San Francisco, CA
17
Denver, CO
8
Chicago, IL
18
New Orleans, LA
9
New York, NY
19
Cincinnati, OH
10
Portland, OR
20
Sacramento, CA
Best vs. Worst
To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-places-to-get-married/18721/
