TECHNOLOGY giant Apple held on to the world’s most valuable brand title with record valuation at more than $355 billion (R5.4 trillion), followed by Amazon and Google, according to Brand Finance Global 500 2022’s ranking released yesterday.
However, there were still no African brands in ranking as global brands continued to dominate.
Brand Finance said MTN was Africa’s most valuable brand at $4bn – just more than $600 million below the threshold of the top 500 ranking this year.
Brand Finance Africa managing director Jeremy Sampson said yesterday that it was estimated that Africa would soon house a quarter of the world’s population, making it a lucrative location for global multinational brands.
“Within this context, no African brands feature in the ranking of the world’s 500 most valuable, as many local brands have been discontinued by global giants. However, South African telecoms giant MTN is currently performing very strongly and is well positioned for the future, so could be expected to move closer to being included in the ranking next year,” Sampson said.
Of note, video-focused social networking service TikTok was named the world’s fastest-growing brand, up 215 percent, leading the global revolution in media consumption
Tripling in brand value over the past year, TikTok was a new entrant in the ranking. The entertainment app’s brand value increased from $18.7bn last year to $59bn this year, claiming 18th spot among the world’s top 500 most valuable brands. This was the highest new entrant to the Brand Finance Global 500 2022 ranking.
Brand Finance chairperson and chief executive David Haigh said media consumption had increased throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the way it was consumed had changed irrevocably.
“In order to compete in this evolving marketplace, media organisations have invested heavily in their brands – from content acquisition through to user experience. TikTok’s meteoric growth is the proof in the pudding – the brand has gone from relative obscurity to internationally renowned in just a few years and shows no signs of slowing down,” said Haigh.
Overall, media brands accounted for the top three fastest-growing brands in the ranking, with another social media app Snapchat, with its brand value up 184 percent to $6.6bn, and South Korean internet brand Kakao, up 161 percent to $4.7bn, following closely behind TikTok.
The US and China dominated, claiming two-thirds of brand value. The US accounted for 49 percent ($3.9trl) and China for 19 percent ($1.6trl).
Tech remained the most valuable industry, while second-ranked retail crossed the $1trl mark following a 46 percent brand value growth during Covid-19 pandemic.
BUSINESS REPORT