How do you like them apples?
For the fourth year in a row, Apple was named by Kantar as the most valuable brand in the world.
The tech giant earned the top spot with a brand value of $1.3 trillion, according to Kantar’s annual BrandZ report, which ranks companies around the world based on factors like consumer perceptions and financial valuations. That’s up 28% from last year, when it was also Kantar’s most valuable brand.
Apple is the only company in the report with a brand value in the trillions, accounting for 12% of the total value of the 100 brands on the list, per Kantar.
When Kantar released its first BrandZ report in 2006, Apple came in at No. 29. The following year marked the debut of the iPhone, “forever changing” the consumer tech industry, Kantar wrote in the report.
The company’s marketing efforts haven’t hurt its business, either.
“Apple’s smartphone ads have remained best-in-class as well, if less imbued with the ‘shock of the new’ than its earlier PC and iPod campaigns,” the authors wrote. “This is an inevitable by-product, perhaps, of Apple’s journey from being the ultimate tech underdog to the most valuable brand of all time.”
Really big tech: The report includes several other tech brands in top positions, as well as a strong showing from US companies across sectors. Following Apple in the top 10 are tech brands Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Facebook, Oracle, and Instagram.
McDonald’s broke up the tech party, coming in as the No. 8 most valuable brand, followed by tech brand Oracle and Visa.
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Nvidia saw a significant spike in brand value, up 152% from last year to $509 billion. Instagram experienced more than 100% growth, up to $229 billion, and Amazon’s brand value increased by 50% to $866 billion. TikTok, which was ranked No. 32 this year, clocked a 25% increase in value from last year.
Newbies: Seven of this year’s top 100 brands joined that group for the first time, according to Kantar, including Uniqlo, Hilton, Stripe, Chipotle, Booking.com, DoorDash, and ChatGPT. ChatGPT is the “most valuable newcomer” of the year, per the report, coming in at No. 60 with a brand value of about $44 billion. Originally released in the fall of 2022, ChatGPT is also the youngest company to make the list, Kantar noted.
Six brands returned to the top 100 this year after previously dropping off the list, including Spotify, Adidas, and Morgan Stanley.
Best of the rest: Among apparel brands, Uniqlo and Adidas were outranked by Nike and Zara. The most valuable alcohol company is Chinese liquor brand Moutai, followed by Corona, Budweiser, Heineken, and Modelo. Tesla topped the list of auto brands, McDonald’s led among fast-food companies, Coca-Cola ranked highest in the food and beverage category, L’Oréal Paris outranked all other personal-care brands, and Amazon was No. 1 in retail.
“Even amid economic downturns, the world’s most valuable brands have consistently outperformed major indices, providing irrefutable proof of the power of marketing and the enduring value of strong brands,” Cheong Tai Leung, CEO of Kantar’s APAC, insights division, said in a press release.