BrandZ: Google unseats Apple; Tencent top APAC company

GLOBAL - Google has displaced Apple to reclaim the top spot on this year's BrandZ ranking. 

Unlike Campaign Asia-Pacific's Asia's Top 1000 Brands report, also released this week, which measures consumer sentiment, the BrandZ ranking is based on the monetary brand equity of each company.

Google increased its value 32 percent to $229 billion, while Apple dropped to number two after its value fell 8 percent to $228 billion. Microsoft remained at number 3, while Facebook climbed seven spots, becoming the fifth most valuable brand. Amazon made its debut in the top 10. The total brand value of the Top 100 rose 3 percent to touch $3.4 trillion.

Tencent finished just outside the Top 10, at 11th, with value of $84.9 billion.

Other Asia-based companies in the Top 100:

• China Mobile at 15
• Alibaba at 18
• ICBC at 27
• Toyota at 28
• Baidu at 29
• China Construction Bank at 46
• NTT at 47
• Samsung at 48
• Huawei at 50
• Ping An at 57
• China Life at 59
• Agricultural Bank of China at 62
• Bank of China at 71
• Sinopec at 72
• Honda at 74
• ANZ at 77
• Telstra at 78
• Nissan at 92
• Moutai at 93
• AIA at 98
• JD.com at 99

The study found that brands that innovated and then showcased their innovations to consumers through brand experience stood out. Amazon built its own logistics network using independent contractors, which enabled it to offer one-hour delivery options, and started producing its own content. Facebook began hosting publishers’ original content to keep members active.

“The brands that thrive, regardless of sector, are those that behave like challengers and adopt disruptor models and mindsets,” said David Roth, CEO EMEA and Asia, The Store WPP. “They’re shaking up other categories with innovation that goes beyond new products or technologies – transforming the way a service is delivered, enhancing the consumer experience or changing a format.”

According to Doreen Wang, Millward Brown’s global head of BrandZ: “By stretching their brands in innovative ways and expanding into new categories, the strongest brands in the Top 100 are increasing their penetration and their relevance in people’s day-to-day lives.”

Commissioned by WPP and undertaken by Millward Brown Optimor, the BrandZ ranking is now in its 11th year. It combines measures of brand equity based on interviews with over 2 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 Worldpanel) to separate the value that brand plays in driving business and shareholder value.

Here are the top 50 companies. For the full report, see www.millwardbrown.com/brandz or download the PDF