Amazon retains crown as world’s most valuable brand
Amazon has retained its place as the world’s most valuable brand, growing 64 per cent this year to $684bn – equivalent to the GDP of Poland.
Amazon’s value grew by $268bn in the last year, according to data from Kantar, as a locked down world turned to the retailer for their online shopping.
After Amazon, tech companies dominated the top 10 most valuable brands in the world, with Apple, Google and Microsoft coming in second, third and fourth behind the online marketplace.
Zoom, while not in the top 10 most valuable brands, was one of the biggest tech success stories of the last year.
As offices were closed and families stuck at home, Zoom’s video calling service drove momentum with both businesses and personal users.
The video calling software entered Kantar’s top 100 valuable brands list for the first time, already ranking at 52 with a value of $36.9bn.
The top 10 most valuable brands have experienced record growth, with their total worth reaching £7.1 trillion – equivalent to the combined GDP of France and Germany.
The 42 per cent annual average growth of the top 10 this year has been driven by confidence derived from vaccine availability, economic stimulus packages and improving GDP outlooks, Kantar said.
“2020-2021 has been a record year for brand growth, and despite many facing a difficult year, our research has again proven that strong brands deliver superior shareholder returns, are more resilient and recover more quickly,” said Nathalie Burdet, CMO of Kantar.
“With global ecommerce growing from 12 per cent to 15 per cent of all sales in 2020, it has been a positive year for brands involved in that value chain – from the retailers through to the couriers like FedEx and UPS.
“However, we have also seen growth in industries where many were predicting challenges early in the pandemic. Apparel brands for example have collectively grown even more than media and entertainment brands in the ranking, and luxury brands, despite reduced travel and lockdowns globally, have refocused their energies and seen growth as a result.”
US brands in particular grew the fastest in the last year, meaning the US now accounts for 74 per cent of the top 100 brand’s total value, despite having 24 per cent of global GDP.
Tesla was the fastest growing brand in the last year, and become the most valuable car brand, growing its value by 275 per cent year-on-year to $42.6bn.