Luxury, tech, finance brands rise in Kantar BrandZ rankings

In a sign of widespread recovery from the Covid pandemic, consumer technology, luxury and financial brands were the sharpest risers in the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands 2022 report. Louis Vuitton capped off a strong year in its category, with its brand value rising 64% this year, as it became the first luxury brand to enter the top 10. 

Overall, the combined value of the world’s Top 100 most valuable brands has increased by 23% to $8.7 trillion over the past year, the second-biggest rise in this listing's history. Technology and luxury brands grew the fastest, bank and automotive were next, followed by apparel personal care. Wells Fargo was the only new top brand, moving from second to first place in banking and replacing China’s ICBC.

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In the top 100 ranking, 37 brands improved their rankings this year. In 2022, over three-quarters of brand value originated from US companies. Media & entertainment, business solutions & technology providers, and retail categories account for over half of the total value of the Top 100 rankings.

With a brand value of $947.1 billion, Apple, which knocked Amazon off its top perch from 2021, is well on its way to becoming a trillion-dollar label. Other tech brands have fared well too, including Google which moved up to second place increasing its brand value by 79% to $819.6 billion. 

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While Chinese brands were highly visible in this year's listing, their brand value dropped across the board. In the top 10, Tencent and Alibaba saw their brand value fall by 11% and 14% respectively. Tencent managed to hold its place in the top 10, and Alibaba slipped two places to 9th position.

Outside of the top 10, other Chinese brands struggled to grow their brand strength, with the likes of beverage label Moutai, social media platform TikTok, telecom gear maker Huawei and insurer Ping An all seeing a decline in brand value. 

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This slower growth also meant that APAC's fastest rising brands were from outside of China this year. While Samsung continued to be atop the list this year, it was India's TCS, with a 61% growth in brand value, that registered the sharpest growth. 

Across the globe, all brands need to keep their eye on a raft of newcomers to this listing. These tend to not be upstarts, but rather older companies that find fresh legs for their business. In 2022, the newcomers were from a cross-section of industries, ranging from oil giant Aramco to retailer Target, financial services giant Morgan Stanley and Indian tech outsourcer Infosys.

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At the other end of the  spectrum, China's tech platform Kuaishou and hospitality platform Airbnb too made the top 100. The bar to enter the top 100 has risen significantly—in 2022, contenders' valuation had to exceed $21.21 billion to make it—a fourfold increase since the list’s debut in 2006.