Amazon world’s most valuable brand
Amazon soars in global ranking, beating tech rivals and reinforcing its incredible position in the e-commerce and, consequently, logistics space
With little sign of a slowdown in growth, Amazon has become the world's most valuable brand, according to the 2019 BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking released today by WPP and Kantar.
The ranking noted that Amazon's smart acquisitions, which have led to new revenue streams, have been key alongside excellent customer service provision and its ability to stay ahead of its competitors by offering a diverse eco-system of products and services.
Rising in brand value by an impressive 52% year-on-year to $315.5 billion, Amazon moves ahead of Apple (no.2, $309.5 billion) and Google (no.3, $309.0 billion) which both rose by a modest +3% and +2% respectively, to end the technology giants' 12-year dominance.
In a further demonstration of the growing power of e-commerce players, Alibaba overtook Tencent and became the most valuable Chinese brand, moving up two places to no.7 and growing +16% to $131.2 billion. Tencent dropped three places to no.8, declining by 27% to $130.9 billion year-on-year, in what BrandZ ascribes to a more volatile world; one in which brands must continually anticipate evolving consumer needs and expectations.
Another big winner was Uber which rose 51%, to no.53 at a valuation of $24.2 billion, reflecting the rapidly changing, technology-driven world in which consumers are placing more value on richer brand experiences.
Doreen Wang, Kantar's Global Head of BrandZ, comments: "Amazon's phenomenal brand value growth of almost $108 billion in the last year demonstrates how brands are now less anchored to individual categories and regions. The boundaries are blurring as technology fluency allow brands, such as Amazon, Google and Alibaba, to offer a range of services across multiple consumer touchpoints. Using their consumer experience and expertise, these brands are crossing over into the business services sector, creating new opportunities for brand growth. Disruptive ecosystem models are flourishing in regions such as Asia, where consumers are more technology-enabled and where brands are integrating themselves into every aspect of people's daily lives."