Apple Overtakes Google for the Top Spot in the 10th Annual Brandz™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands Ranking

LONDON, May 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

World's top 100 brands are now worth $3.3 trillion to businesses 

Apple has overtaken Google to reclaim the title of 'world's most valuable brand' in the 2015 BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, released today by WPP and Millward Brown. Apple has increased its brand value to $247 billion, a rise of 67% year on year. Google (no.2) also grew, achieving a 9% value increase to reach $173.7bn. Microsoft, now worth $115.5bn, is the new no.3, rising one position with value growth of 28%.

Though the AppleWatch has proved extremely popular, it is the success of the iPhone 6 that has been the main driver of Apple's brand value growth. Doreen Wang, Millward Brown's Global Head of BrandZ, comments: "Apple continues to 'own' its category by innovating and leading the curve in a way that generates real benefits for consumers. It meets their rational and emotional needs, and makes life easier in a fun and relevant way. Apple is clear on what it stands for, and never stops refreshing its message to sustain the difference that makes it so desirable."

The total brand value of the Top 100 now stands at $3.3 trillion, a 14% increase on 2014 and a 126% growth over the 10 years since the ranking was first launched.

David Roth, WPP said: "Brand value has risen substantially despite a disruptive decade. This is a pivotal moment for brand builders. We're at the threshold of a new normal, and a changing consumer. The past 10 years of valuing brands proves that investing in creating strong, valuable brands delivers superior returns to shareholders."

The BrandZ Top 10 Most Valuable Global Brands 2015 

   
    Rank                                Brand value    Brand value
    2015      Brand        Category      2015 ($M)       change      Rank 2014
          1 Apple      Technology            246,992      67%            2
          2 Google     Technology            173,652       9%            1
          3 Microsoft  Technology            115,500      28%            4
          4 IBM        Technology             93,987     -13%            3
          5 Visa       Payments               91,962      16%            7
                       Telecom
          6 AT&T       providers              89,492      15%            8
                       Telecom
          7 Verizon    providers              86,009      36%           11
          8 Coca-Cola* Soft drinks            83,841       4%            6
          9 McDonald's Fast food              81,162      -5%            5
         10 Marlboro   Tobacco                80,352      19%            9

* The Brand Value of Coca-Cola includes Lights, Diets and Zero

Highlights and key findings from this year's BrandZ Top 100 study include:

• Technology is the fastest-growing category- up 24% in the last year, the tech brands in the Top 100 are worth more than $1 trillion, nearly a third of the value of all brands in the ranking.
• Facebookis the fastest riser, with 99% growth achieved through its successful strategy of acquiring and integrating other social apps such as Instagram and WhatsApp, and an understanding of how to monetise and cross-sell its platforms.
• E-commerce boosts retail brand value as Alibaba enters ranking and overtakes Amazon - Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba entered the retail ranking at $66.4bn, helping to grow the retail category ranking by 24% and overtaking both Amazon and Walmart. The most valuable retail brands Alibaba and Amazon, which lack physical stores, are now worth more than Walmart, which has 11,000 stores worldwide.

The BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands is now in its tenth year. Analysis of the 10-year trajectory of the brands in the ranking has revealed that:

• Europe's brand powerhouses stagnate as Chinese brands grow and US brands make a comeback. The number of Chinese brands continues to grow with 14 brands in the Top 100, up from one in 2006, and an increase of 1004% in value. The value of US brands grew by 137% in the last 10 years (up 15% in the last year) compared to just 31% in Europe (down -9.3% in the last year). There are now just 24 brands from Europe in the ranking (down from 35 in 2006). This represents a shift from West to East; most of the brands that have been 'pushed out' of the Top 100 by China were from Europe.
• High value brands provide faster bottom-line growth and shareholder value. In the last 10 years, a measurement of the strongest brands from the Top 100 as a 'stock portfolio' shows their share price has risen over three times more than the MSCI World Index and almost two thirds more than the S&P500.

Carried out by WPP's marketing and brand consultancy Millward Brown, the BrandZTop 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study is the only ranking in the world that uses the views of potential and current buyers of a brand, alongside financial data, to calculate brand value.  

The BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands report and rankings, and a great deal more brand insight for key regions of the world and 14 market sectors, are available online here. A new suite of interactive smartphone and tablet applications is available for free download for Apple IOS and all Android devices from http://www.brandz.com/mobile or search for BrandZ in the respective iTunes or Google Play app stores.

NOTES TO EDITORS: 

About the BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands Ranking 

Carried out by WPP's marketing and brand consultancy Millward Brown, the BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking is now in its tenth year. It is the only study to combine measures of brand equity based on interviews with over three million consumers globally about thousands of global 'consumer facing' and business-to-business brands with a rigorous analysis of the financial and business performance of each company (using data from Bloomberg and Kantar Retail) to separate the value that brand plays in driving business and shareholder value. Consumer perception of a brand is a key input in determining brand value because brands are a combination of business performance, product delivery, clarity of positioning, and leadership. The ranking takes into account regional variations since, even for truly global brands, measures of brand contribution might differ substantially across countries.

About Millward Brown 

Millward Brown is a leading global research agency specializing in advertising effectiveness, strategic communication, media and brand equity research. Millward Brown helps clients grow great brands through comprehensive research-based qualitative and quantitative solutions. Specialist global practices include a leading Digital practice (focused on digital effectiveness and intelligence), Firefly Millward Brown (a global qualitative network), a Neuroscience Practice (using neuroscience to optimize the value of traditional research techniques), and Millward Brown Vermeer (a strategy consultancy helping companies maximize financial returns on brand and marketing investments). Millward Brown operates in more than 55 countries and is part of Kantar, WPP's data investment management division. Learn more at http://www.millwardbrown.com.

About WPP
WPP is the world's largest communications services group with billings of US$76 billion and revenues of US$19 billion. Through its operating companies, the Group provides a comprehensive range of advertising and marketing services including advertising & media investment management; data investment management; public relations & public affairs; branding & identity; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion & relationship marketing and specialist communications. The company employs over 188,000 people (including associates and investments) in over 3,000 offices across 111 countries. For more information, visit http://www.wpp.com.

WPP was named Holding Company of the Year at the 2014 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the fourth year running. WPP was also named, for the fourth consecutive year, the World's Most Effective Holding Company in the 2015 Effie Effectiveness Index, which recognizes the effectiveness of marketing communications.        

For further information please contact:

Miquet Humphryes
Director, Global Corporate Marketing, Millward Brown
Tel: +44(0)1926-826179
Email: miquet.humphryes@millwardbrown.com

Or

Teresa Horscroft
Eureka Communications
Tel: +44(0)1420-564346
Mobile: +44(0)7990-520390
Email: teresa@eurekacomms.co.uk