Tech dominates Interbrand global rankings

Interbrand has released its rankings of the most valuable brands in the world, and the technology sector has a lot to boast about, occupying six of the top ten spots.

Every now and then we just need a reminder of how important technology is for today’s society. In previous generations you might have seen names such as Ferrari or Coca Cola or American Express at the top of the list, but now it is the playground of the technology companies. We already knew tech was at the top, but it is nice to get validation occasionally.

Apple hits number one spot, with a brand value of just over $184.1 billion, while Google sits in second with $141.7 billion and Microsoft in third with just under $80 million. Amazon, Samsung, Facebook and IBM complete the rest of tech in the top ten. In terms of best performers, Facebook and Amazon are two to keep an eye on, with brand values growing 48% and 29% respectively.

“We are living in one of the most exciting periods of change – societal, technological, industrial – that impacts every aspect of commerce and life,” said Jez Frampton, CEO of Interbrand. “In this ever-shifting context, growth becomes more challenging, which is why businesses need brands more than ever. The Best Global Brands understand that brands are the platform for growth.”

In terms of how the value of the brands are worked out, Interbrand takes three things into account. Firstly, financial performance of the branded products and services. Secondly, the role the brand plays in influencing customer choice. And finally, the strength the brand has to command a premium price or secure earnings for the company. If you want to check out the full list you can here, but we’ve pulled out a couple of highlights for you.

In the battle of the network infrastructure giants, these rankings are further evidence Huawei is in a lead of its own. The market leader hits the table in 70th position, with a brand value at just over $6.6 billion, while Ericsson, Nokia and ZTE are nowhere to be seen. Some might argue this is mainly due to the influence of consumer behaviour in the methodology, but there are quite a few B2B brands which sit higher up. Cisco sits at 16th, SAP at 21st and Accenture at 37th.

Another interesting development is the growth in the brand value. If you note down the biggest movers and shakers in the list, the majority of them have something to do with the connected economy. Facebook, Amazon and Adobe are the three biggest movers, but also at the top of the list you have Huawei (network infrastructure), PayPal and MasterCard (Digital Payments), Mercedes Benz (autonomous vehicles), Microsoft (cloud) and 3M (IoT). There are of course brands which have more tenuous links and some which don’t have any at all, but it is another nice bit of validation.

So technology rules the roost. Yay us!