Amazon is the world’s most valuable brand
Facebook came in fifth with $158.96 billion
Dubai: A who’s who of tech giants took up the leading positions in the latest BrandZ Top 100 Most Valueable Global Brands, with Amazon ranked first with a brand value of $315.5 billion. The e-retailer had earlier the third spot in 2018 rankings. Apple followed with a value pegged at $309.52 billion and just ahead of the $309 billion assigned to Google’s brand power.
Facebook came in fifth with $158.96 billion, and of the “Old Economy” types, there was just McDonald’s, placed ninth, and AT&T, the US telco which was tenth. Alibaba, the most valuable Chinese company, overtook Tencent to number seven.
Next year’s listings will provide an insight into how well tech giants fare at a time when the US is opening up antitrust investigations against them.
But even with social media platforms facing “challenges in terms of trust and desirability”, Instagram at No. 44 and a $28.2 billion value, was this year’s fastest riser, climbing 47 places with a massive 95 per cent growth in brand value. Lululemon, the athletic apparel company was the second fastest riser, helping itself to a 77 value gain to $6.92 billion. Other top risers were Netflix, up 65 per cent to $34.3 billion and Uber, a gain of 51 per cent to $24.2 billion, and, of course, Amazon, which was up 52 per cent year-on-year.
“We’re seeing a move from individual product and service brands to a new era of highly-disruptive ecosystems,” said David Roth, Chairman of BrandZ.