UAE's e& is 'world's fastest growing brand'

Dubai: The UAE’s telecom-tech group e& has become the fastest-growing brand in the world in terms of brand value. Just over the last 12 months, the company’s brand value has grown eightfold to $15.3 billion, according to the influential Brand Finance listings.

e&, formerly Etisalat, has in the last three years widened its global presence through stake buys and alliances, while in its home market of the UAE, it has fast-tracked its way to high-speed networks and made a series of strategic buy-ins, which include Careem and the streaming platform Starzplay Arabia.

And guess who’s in second place for fastest brand value growth? Nvidia, the AI powered tech giant, according to Brand Finance. Its brand value comes to $87.9 billion placing it among the rankings of the world’s most valuable brands.

In making the rankings and dollar value, brand value is defined as the net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing it in the open market. And brand strength is the ‘efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors’, according to Brand Finance.

What of the world’s most powerful brands? Just check out where some of those brands stand in their stock market valuations.

That’s certainly the way this year’s annual rankings of the world’s most valuable brands have shaped up, with Apple at No. 1 (brand value of $574.5 billion), followed by Microsoft ($461 billion) and Google (413 billion) in second and third spots. Amazon is fourth ($356 billion) in the list and the supermarket giant Walmart comes in fifth with $137.2 billion, according to the standings put out by the influential Brand Finance.

Now, if anyone were to check out the stock market, Apple’s market cap is at $3.45 trillion, with Microsoft weighing at $3.18 trillion , Alphabet (owner of Google) at $2.4 trillion and Amazon coming to $2.37 trillion. (In sixth spot globally in market cap is Saudi Aramco, with $1.81 trillion.)

AI-allied companies make their presence felt in brand power too, and TikTok – which is facing its share of issues in the US – now ranks among the world’s high-growth brands.

“Our analysis of what brands have grown the most since 2020 reveals that technology companies do not have a monopoly on sustained brand growth,” said David Haigh, Chairman and CEO of Brand Finance.

“This longer-term view also reinforces another important global trend: how Chinese brands like TikTok, Pinduoduo, and BYD are leading the charge by creating value, and challenging established brand leaders,” said Haigh. “As China continues to refine its brand-building strategies and focus on quality, we expect to see more Chinese companies enter the global marketplace in 2025.”

Each year, Brand Finance ranks 6,000 of the world’s biggest companies and labels, ranking brands across sectors and countries. The world’s top 500 most valuable and strongest brands are included in the Brand Finance Global 500 2025 report.