Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable US Brands 2019

Apple was rated the most valuable US brand in a study just released by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown. Google, Amazon, Microsoft and VISA rounded out the top five.

The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable US Brands were determined by combining financial data from Bloomberg and Kantar Worldpanel with the opinions of over 164,000 consumers. Over 1,500 brands in 130 categories were examined.

Companies in the tech sphere occupied many of the top spots, with Facebook and IBM also showing up in the top 10. No. 1 Apple saw its brand value jump 13 percent to $316 billion, while Google (#2) was up nine percent to $313.2 billion and Amazon (#3) registered a brand value of $279.3 billion, up a healthy 69 percent.

Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable US Brands 2019 InfographicBrandz Top 100 Most Valuable US Brands 2019 Infographic
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Netflix (#28) was the fastest growing company in the Top 100, increasing by 93 percent to a brand value of $30.2 billion. Uber (#35), with a brand value of $21.1 billion, was the most valuable newcomer to the list.

In addition to the ranking the companies, the Top 100 survey also looked at which criteria consumers felt contributed most to a brand’s value.

While innovative products remain key to market leadership, the study found that consumers also want companies to provide them with innovative experiences. The study’s authors cited Apple as a prime example of a company that combines cutting-edge devices with a range of services that powerfully shape a consumer’s experience of those devices.

Brands that were perceived by consumers as being “meaningfully different” from their competitors grew by 78 percent more than other companies in the study. In addition, taking a stand on controversial issues often proved to be a benefit. For example, Nike’s decision to stick with its promotion of Serena Williams and Colin Kaepernick helped reinforce consumers’ emotional connection with the brand, which registered a 37 percent hike in brand value and a rise in the rankings to #18.

“Customer experience is now the greatest amplifier of value growth,” said Kantar Consulting Brand & Marketing Americas CEO Beth Ann Kaminkow. Companies “will need to focus on improving consumers’ experience of their brand in 2019 by breaking down internal silos and uniting marketing and sales.”