The economic value of business brands is dominated by American technology companies, according to the latest report from the consulting firm Interbrand Best Global Brands 2023.
Apple remains the most valuable brand in the world for the eleventh year in a row: half a trillion dollars. They are followed by Microsoft, Amazon and Google. This quartet accounts for more than a third of the combined value worldwide (estimated at around $3.3 trillion). The distance with the rest is astronomical. An "oligopoly" regarding the value of intangible assets.
"Really, this “oligopoly” has been taking shape over the last 10 years, in which the business landscape has changed profoundly. Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google are part of a “super league” of companies that have managed to make their brand stand out. become a system of meaning that can be applied in numerous categories and emerging businesses. For these corporations, their brand is an asset that can be deployed in new and multiple areas, since consumers already understand what they can expect from them," explains Nancy Villanueva, CEO of Interbrand for Iberia and the Middle East.
Indeed, today these companies have extended their businesses to many sectors that transcend their sector of origin. Apple from computers has set foot in finance, Amazon ($277 billion) from book sales now operates music or video streaming, Microsoft ($316 billion) from PCs moves into video games and Google ($260 billion) search engine has business in telephony, to give an example. And the rest?
"We have detected that there are, among the first 100, a total of 69 that are not growing or are not doing so significantly. We believe that, in the face of uncertainty and instability, the majority of these companies have decided to protect their business income. thus losing opportunities for growth in other spaces," says Villanueva.
And, indeed, the global growth of brands this year is stagnating, with a rebound of 5.7%. Inequality between them is also growing. The added value of the Top 10 represents more than half of the total value of the table.
As a curiosity, we must highlight the good role played by the automotive sector, with brands such as Toyota, Mercedes-Benz or BMW that are among the most valued, despite the current context of energy transition. This is due, according to Interbrand, to greater penetration into emerging markets and the adoption of electric vehicles. Brands like Porsche or Ferrari also increase in value as luxury goods.
As for Spain, it has had the same brands for years: Zara and Santander. The first already exceeds 16,000 million and is ahead of H
Interbrand was the first company to carry out a brand valuation project in 1988. Its methodology, largely secret, assesses financial performance, the impact on the consumer and the strength it has to impose a premium price on its services and products.
