The 2023 Kantar BrandZ Report offers a fresh view of the business world, with Apple at the top, Amazon's dip, and new contenders emerging as the world's most valuable brands.

Article by Cihan Uzunoglu | November 28, 2023

Most Valuable Brands of the World 2023: Key Insights

• Brand Rankings and Value Changes: Apple is the world's most valuable brand in 2023 with a brand value of US$880.4 billion, holding its top position for the second year. While most companies in the Top 10 faced a decrease in value, Amazon's 33% dip was particularly significant. Luxury brand Louis Vuitton is the only one of its kind in the Top 10, and newcomer Shein entered the Top 100 for the first time.
• Sustainability and Growth: Only 2% of the world's most valuable brands are seen as sustainability leaders, representing a major opportunity for brands, especially in the realm of eCommerce. Additionally, even though there was a 20% decline in the overall brand value index from 2022, the collective value of the Top 100 brands in 2023 exhibited a notable 47% growth compared to 2019 levels.

Consumer Connections and Brand Resilience: Establishing and nurturing strong emotional connections with consumers is pivotal for brand resilience, especially in volatile market conditions. Brands that consistently invest in establishing strong emotional connections with consumers are now better equipped to navigate the current volatile conditions and provide greater resilience for their shareholders. Therefore, it is crucial for brands to continue investing in brand-building, product innovation, and market diversification in order to foster growth.

Intangibles currently account for 90% of the market value of the S&P 500, up from 22% in 1995, according to a 2020 estimate. As a result, tangibles like real estate, machinery, and buildings only account for 10% of the Index’s company value.

Source: visualcapitalist, https://shorturl.at/buwE1

The value of intangibles like intellectual property rights associated with inventions and brands, consumer data, and software continues to increase as businesses rely more and more on technology and innovation to compete.

Top 10 Companies, by Brand Value

The most valuable brands in 2023: Amazon ranks first internationally, is the market leader in online retail, enjoys high brand loyalty in its

B2C market, which accounts for the lion's share of its income, and is a major player in cloud services for its

B2B platforms.

Source: visualcapitalist.com, https://shorturl.at/qtwJM

Brand Value: Leading Sectors in 2023

When we look at brand value broken down by industry, we can see that technology continues to lead at $891. With $467 billion, the banking industry still had the fourth-largest brand influence behind retail and media. With $397 billion, the auto industry came in fifth place, spearheaded by brands like Tesla and Mercedes-Benz AG.

Apple continues to lead as the world’s most valuable brand, for the second year in a row, in the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands Report 2023. The latest ranking shows that the total brand value of the world’s top 100 brands now stands at $6.9 trillion for 2023. Despite a 20% drop in the overall index vs 2022, the Kantar BrandZ Top 100 retains its long-term growth trajectory, posting 47% growth compared to the pre-COVID (2019) level.

With a brand valuation of $880bn, Apple has proven resilient in the face of testing market conditions, justifying premium prices with positive perceptions, and proving that meaningful, different and salient brands are best placed to weather global economic disruption. Google and Microsoft complete the top three, with technology brands, once again, the most represented in the Top 100 and commanding the largest share of brand value.

What are the implications for brand owners?

This year’s results – despite the fall in aggregate value – are, in fact, a continuation of the long-term growth trend for brands, which began following the global financial crisis of 2008 and continued up until the start of the pandemic in 2020. While the market has proved volatile and been greatly impacted by global macroeconomics, consumers’ view of brands has proved far more stable – the most valuable brands in the world remain as highly regarded as ever.

The lessons for brand owners and marketers remain clear; effective marketing investment and long-term thinking are vital to your business’ growth prospects. Those brands consistently investing in establishing strong emotional connections with consumers are now much better placed to navigate the current volatile conditions and deliver a greater degree of resilience for their shareholders.

Kantar BrandZ Top 10 Most Valuable Global Brands 2023

Rank

Brand

Country of Origin

Brand Value 2023 ($Mil.)

Brand Value 2022 ($Mil.)

1

Apple

US

880,455

947,062

2

Google

US

577,683

819,573

3

Microsoft

US

501,856

611,460

4

Amazon

US

468,737

705,646

5

McDonald's

US

191,109

196,526

6

Visa

US

169,092

191,032

7

Tencent

China

141,020

214,023

8

Louis Vuitton

France

124,822

124,273

9

MasterCard

US

110,631

117,253

10

Coca-Cola

US

106,109

97,883

Other highlights from the 2023 report include:

• 16 brands grew in brand value across the Top 100 – with Airtel (No.76; +24%) and Pepsi (No.91; +17%) achieving the highest brand value growth vs 2022.
• Nine brands returned to the Top 100 – including Colgate (No.95), Sony (No.99) and Pampers (No.100)
• Two new Chinese brands joined the Top 100 ranking for the first time – Shein at No.70 and Nongfu Spring at No.81
• The Luxury, Fast Food and Food & Beverages categories proved to be the most resilient to market fluctuations.
• Brands improving their ability to justify a higher price than competitors, based on the strength of their equity with consumers, grew at twice the rate – adding 67% to their brand value over the last four years.
• Sustainability remains an untapped opportunity for brands – only 2% of the most valuable global brands are perceived as ‘leading’ in this area.

Explore the results, key findings, trends and analysis on how brands can succeed in the global report.

2023 success stories

Food & Beverage brands demonstrated the most resilience as an overall category, declining just 3% year-on-year. Doritos proved the value of its superior taste messaging, ranking No.19 in this category, with a brand value of $5.4bn – one of many brands in this year’s report that shows functional benefits can be the key to outperforming competitors. Pepsi’s brand value has soared 17% year-on-year, reaching a total value of $18.8bn and taking Pepsi back into the global ranking at No.91. Defined by great advertising, the brand has grown its price premium positioning in the US while being considered a ‘value’ brand across the rest of the world. Coca-Cola (No.10) showed great resilience, increasing its brand value by 8% and breaking back into the Top 10 for the first time in seven years.

Fast Food was the second-highest performing category. Brands that outperformed in this space include Burger King, Chick-Fil-A and Starbucks. Resilience in the industry is being fuelled by greater exposure and better experience. Burger King, for example, cut drive-thru times with menu simplification and digital boards and invested more heavily in brand communications. The brand has been rewarded with a 2023 value of $7.7bn, an increase of 8% compared to last year.

Luxury brands retained their allure even with steady, incremental price increases. Louis Vuitton is the only luxury brand in the global Top 10, rising two places to No.8, with a brand value of $124.8bn. Dior is the fastest-growing brand in the category, increasing its brand value by 9% to $11.4bn. The category’s strong overall performance highlights the excellent job luxury brands are doing at leveraging their distinctive assets to drive higher demand and pricing power, despite economic challenges.

TikTok (No.41) is still perceived as the second most disruptive brand in the Top 100, behind Tesla (No.25). Tesla continues to be considered a true game-changer, ranking No.1 in the Automotive category, with a 2023 valuation of $67.7bn.

Outside the Top 100, Ferrari makes its debut in the Top 10 Automotive brands with a valuation of $7.8bn, increasing demand and perceived value to consumers even through the most challenging market conditions. Emerging brands competing in the EV space, and which are likely to gain value in the future, include Polestar, Li Auto and Genesis.

How can brands overcome continued disruption

Brands need to continue investing in brand-building, product and market diversification to grow. This year’s results clearly show that, even in the current macroeconomic environment, it remains possible to find growth in any category and territory with the right strategy focused on establishing and maintaining strong connections with consumers. Kantar BrandZ analysis proves that perceived brand differentiation is a key predictor of share growth; promoting any sense of difference and making it more known and more relevant to consumers will boost brand value in the long-term.

For an overarching view of brand performance, Kantar has launched a new, free interactive tool using BrandZ’s wealth of data. Kantar BrandSnapshot powered by BrandZ delivers intelligence on 10,000 brands in more than 40 markets, offering a quick read on a brand’s performance in a category.

Read more about the 2023 Top 100 most valuable global brands and 13 category rankings in the new report, with extensive analysis on how brands can find future growth at www.kantar.com/campaigns/brandz/global

What is the most recognized brand in the world 2023?

In 2023, Amazon overtook Apple's position as the most valuable brand in the world, according to the source's ranking.

What is the best brand in 2023?

Apple remains the

1 brand for the 11th year in a row. It is the first brand to rise above half a trillion USD in brand value. Strongest performing sectors are automotive and luxury with sector value rising 9% and 6.5% respectively.

What is the top 10 brand value in 2023?

Kantar BrandZ Top 10 Most Valuable Global Brands 2023.

Which brand is top in world?

Kantar list (2023).