Amazon, Microsoft, Spotify fastest growers in Interbrand's Best Global Brands ranking

Amazon, Microsoft and Spotify are the brands that have added the most to their brand value in the past year, according to Interbrand's 2020 Best Global Brands report.

Amazon added 60% to the value of its brand, which rose to $201bn (£155bn), pushing the ecommerce giant above Google into second place in the ranking.

Microsoft's value grew 53% to $166bn, also marginally overtaking Google, which was down 1% to $165bn. 

Apple retained its top spot, growing its value 38% to $323bn and becoming the first brand to surpass $300bn. 

Samsung, Coca-Cola, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, McDonald’s and Disney completed the top 10, although the value of all of these brands, except Samsung, declined.

The ranking establishes the value a brand contributes to its parent company by assessing the financial performance of a company, the role the brand makes in purchase decisions and its competitive strength.

Tech and media brands dominated the top 10 fastest growers in the list, with Amazon and Microsoft followed by Spotify (70th place, up 52%), Netflix (41st, up 41%) and Adobe (27th, up 41%). 

For the third year in a row, Facebook's value fell, by 12% to $35.2bn – although it moved up a place to 13th in the ranking. But, in a sign of the changing centre of gravity within Mark Zuckerberg's company, Facebook's sister brand Instagram was the highest new entrant in the list, at 19th place, with a value of $26.1bn.  

YouTube and Zoom have also have entered the list, at 30th and 100th place respectively.

“Leadership, engagement and relevance are three consistent themes we are seeing as brands try to navigate the rapidly changing business landscape,” Charles Trevail, global CEO of Interbrand, said. 

“They are the keys to unlock results in the current crisis, building customer confidence and business resilience.”

Trevail continued: “By setting out powerful ambitions and pursuing them with courage and conscience, brands can help us lift our heads, make sense of chaos, and see beyond it, championing a new decade of possibility.”

In the rival BrandZ ranking from Kantar, Amazon has topped the list for the past two years.

In February, Amazon was named "the biggest advertiser on Earth" after reporting annual advertising expense soared to $11bn (£8.4bn) year on year.