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The World’s 100 Most Valuable Brands in 2021

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Most Valuable Bands 2021

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The World’s Top 100 Most Valuable Brands in 2021

In 2020, the global economy experienced one of the worst declines since the Great Depression.

Yet, while the ripple effects of COVID-19 have thrown many businesses into disarray, some companies have not only managed to stay afloat amidst the chaos—they’ve thrived. Using data from Kantar BrandZ, this graphic looks at the top 100 most valuable brands of 2021.

Methodology

Each year, research group Kantar BrandZ ranks companies based on their “brand value,” which is measured by:

  1. A brand’s total financial value, which is the financial contribution that brand brings to its parent company ($ value).
  2. Multiplied by its proportional value, measured by the brands proportional impact on its parent company’s sales (% value).

The financial results are then combined with quantitative survey data, sourced from over 170,000 global consumers. The end result is a holistic look at a company’s brand equity, reputation, and ability to generate value.

The Leaderboard

The total value of 2021’s Top 100 brands grew by 42%, reaching a combined $7 trillion. At the top of the list, perhaps unsurprisingly, is Amazon, with a total brand value of $683 billion.

RankBrandBrand Value
($B USD)
CategoryBrand Value %
change from 2020
1Amazon$683.85Consumer Goods & Retail64%
2Apple$612.00 Technology74%
3Google$458.00 Media & Entertainment42%
4Microsoft$410.27 Business Solutions & Tech Providers26%
5Tencent$240.93 Media & Entertainment60%
6Facebook$226.74 Media & Entertainment54%
7Alibaba$196.91 Consumer Goods & Retail29%
8Visa$191.29 Financial Services2%
9McDonald's$154.92 Food & Beverages20%
10Mastercard$112.88 Financial Services4%
11Moutai$109.33 Food & Beverages103%
12Nvidia$104.76 Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
13Verizon$101.94 Telecom Providers8%
14AT&T$100.65 Telecom Providers-5%
15IBM$91.34 Business Solutions & Tech Providers9%
16Coca-Cola$87.60 Food & Beverages4%
17Nike$83.71 Consumer Goods & Retail68%
18Instagram$82.90 Media & Entertainment100%
19PayPal$80.62 Payments66%
20Adobe$78.52 Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
21Louis Vuitton$75.73 Consumer Goods & Retail46%
22UPS$73.02 Logistics44%
23Intel$71.94 Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
24Netflix$71.13 Media & Entertainment55%
25The Home Depot$70.52 Consumer Goods & Retail22%
26SAP$69.24 Business Solutions & Tech Providers20%
27Accenture$64.73 Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
28Oracle$60.84 Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
29Starbucks$60.27 Food & Beverages26%
30Walmart$59.52 Consumer Goods & Retail30%
31Xfinity$59.00 Telecom Providers26%
32Marlboro$57.01 Consumer Goods & Retail-2%
33Disney$55.22 Media & Entertainment13%
34Meituan$52.40Technology119%
35Texas Instruments$49.24Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
36Salesforce$48.98Business Solutions & Tech Providers61%
37Qualcomm$48.36Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
38Spectrum$47.28 Telecom Providers10%
39YouTube$47.10Media & Entertainment39%
40Chanel$47.05 Consumer Goods & Retail30%
41Cisco$46.82 Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
42Samsung$46.77 Technology44%
43Hermès$46.40Consumer Goods & Retail40%
44JD$44.52 Consumer Goods & Retail75%
45TikTok$43.52 Media & Entertainment158%
46Deutsche Telekom$43.10 Telecom Providers16%
47Tesla$42.61 Cars & Transportation275%
48L'Oréal Paris$38.31 Consumer Goods & Retail30%
49Ping An$38.05Insurance13%
50Huawei$38.02 Technology29%
51ICBC$37.77 Financial Services-1%
52Zoom$36.93 Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
53Intuit$35.87 Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
54Linkedin$35.52 Media & Entertainment19%
55Costco$35.14 Consumer Goods & Retail23%
56Gucci$33.84 Consumer Goods & Retail24%
57AMD$32.92 Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
58Tata Consulting Services$31.28 Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
59Xbox$30.40 Technology55%
60Vodafone$29.74Telecom Providers29%
61American Express$28.58 Financial Services-3%
62Wells Fargo$28.00 Financial Services-8%
63RBC$27.61 Financial Services33%
64Toyota$26.97 Cars & Transportation-5%
65Haier$26.42 Technology41%
66HDFC Bank$26.37 Financial Services27%
67Mercedes-Benz$25.84 Cars & Transportation21%
68China Mobile$25.82 Telecom Providers-25%
69Budweiser$25.55 Food & Beverages5%
70Xiaomi$24.89 Technology50%
71BMW$24.82 Cars & Transportation21%
72Dell Technologies$24.78 Business Solutions & Tech Providers36%
73LIC$24.14 Insurance38%
74J.P. Morgan$24.11 Financial Services37%
75Siemens$23.64Conglomerate69%
76Fedex$23.59 Logistics53%
77Baidu$23.36 Media & Entertainment57%
78Uber$22.41 Cars & Transportation41%
79Adidas$22.34 Consumer Goods & Retail51%
80Chase$21.83 Financial Services7%
81Pinduoduo$21.73 Consumer Goods & Retail131%
82Snapchat$21.61 Media & Entertainmentn/a
83Zara$21.38 Consumer Goods & Retail0%
84Ikea$21.02 Consumer Goods & Retail17%
85UnitedHealthCare$20.87 Insurance32%
86Lowe's$20.67 Consumer Goods & Retail51%
87AIA$20.60 Insurance16%
88NTT$20.48 Telecom Providers1%
89Autodesk$20.45 Business Solutions & Tech Providersn/a
90TD$20.21 Financial Services17%
91Orange$20.20 Telecom Providers4%
92DHL$20.14 Logistics39%
93Didi Chuxing$20.04 Cars & Transportation0%
94China Construction Bank$19.78 Financial Services-6%
95Pampers$19.62 Consumer Goods & Retail6%
96KE$19.50Consumer Goods & Retailn/a
97Commonwealth Bank$19.47 Financial Services48%
98Bank of America$19.32 Financial Services14%
99Spotify$19.28 Media & Entertainmentn/a
100Colgate$18.89 Consumer Goods & Retail8%

It’s the third consecutive year that Amazon has placed first on the list. Since last year’s ranking, the ecommerce brand has seen its value grow by 64%. Keep in mind, this accounts for all areas of Amazon’s business, including its web and subscription services.

Second on the list is Apple with a brand value of $612 billion. Apple wasn’t completely immune to the impacts of COVID-19—in the early days of the pandemic, its stock dipped almost 19% from record highs—but the company recovered and reported record-breaking revenue, generating $64.7 billion in Q4 2020.

It’s fitting that the top brands on the list are big tech companies since the pandemic pushed consumers online for both their shopping and entertainment needs. A few social media platforms placed high on the list as well, like Facebook, which rose two ranks this year to score the sixth spot with a brand value of $227 billion.

Instagram and TikTok trailed behind Facebook when it came to total brand value, but both platforms saw exceptional growth compared to last year’s report. In fact, when looking at brand value growth from 2020, both brands scored a spot in the top 10.

Insights into Brand Value Growth

The most valuable brand report has been ranking companies for over a decade, and some overarching factors have stood out as key contributors to brand value growth:

1. The Big Get Bigger

Starting “strong” can give brands an edge. This is because growth rate is closely correlated with high brand equity. In other words, a strong brand will likely see more growth than a weaker brand, which might explain why companies like Amazon and Apple have been able to hold their place at the top for several consecutive years.

Keep in mind, this doesn’t account for industry disruptors. An innovative company could come out of the woodwork next year and give the Big Tech giants a run for their money.

2. Marketing Makes a Difference

The right strategy can make a difference, and even smaller brands can make a splash if the message is impactful. Brands with emotional associations, like pride or popularity, tend to see that translate into brand value growth.

Companies like Nike and Coca-Cola have mastered the art of emotional advertising. For instance, in May last year, Nike released a video urging consumers to stand up for equality, in a video titled, “For Once, Just Don’t Do It.”

3. Smart Investment

It’s not just about developing an effective marketing strategy, it’s about executing that strategy, and continually investing in ways that perpetuate your brand message.

For instance, innovation is the core value of Tesla’s brand, and the electric car company walks the walk—in 2020, the company spent $1.5 billion on R&D.

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Visualizing the Rise of the U.S. Dollar Since the 19th Century

This animated graphic shows the U.S. dollar, the world’s primary reserve currency, as a share of foreign reserves since 1900.

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Visualizing the Rise and Fall) of the U.S. Dollar

Visualizing the Rise of the U.S. Dollar Since the 19th Century

As the world’s reserve currency, the U.S. dollar made up 58.4% of foreign reserves held by central banks in 2022, falling near 25-year lows.

Today, emerging countries are slowly decoupling from the greenback, with foreign reserves shifting to currencies like the Chinese yuan.

At the same time, the steep appreciation of the U.S. dollar is leading countries to sell their U.S. foreign reserves to help prop up their currencies, in turn buying currencies such as the Australian and Canadian dollars to help generate higher yields.

The above animated graphic from James Eagle shows the rapid ascent of the U.S. dollar over the last century, and its gradual decline in recent years.

Dollar Dominance: A Brief History

In 1944, the U.S. dollar became the world’s reserve currency under the Bretton Woods Agreement. Over the first half of the century, the U.S. ran budget surpluses while increasing trade and economic ties with war-torn countries, expanding its influence as the world’s store of value.

Later through the 1960s, the U.S. dollar share of global foreign reserves rapidly increased as political allies stockpiled the dollar.

By 2000, dollar dominance hit a peak of 71% of global reserves. With the creation of the European Union a year earlier, countries such as China began increasing the share of euros in reserves. Between 2000 and 2005, the share of the dollar in China’s foreign exchange reserves fell by an estimated 15 percentage points.

The dollar began a long rally after the global financial crisis, which drove central banks to cut their dollar reserves to help bolster their currencies.

Fast-forward to today, and dollar reserves have fallen roughly 13 percentage points from their historical peak.

The State of the World’s Reserve Currency

In 2022, 16% of Russia’s export transactions were in yuan, up from almost nothing before the war. Brazil and Argentina have also begun adopting the Chinese currency for trade or reserve purposes. Still, the U.S. dollar makes up 80% of Brazil’s reserves.

Yet while the U.S. dollar has decreased in share of foreign reserves, it still has an immense influence in the world economy.

The majority of trade is invoiced in the U.S. dollar globally, a trend that has stayed fairly consistent over many decades. Between 1999-2019, 74% of trade in Asia was invoiced in dollars and in the Americas, it made up 96% of all invoicing.

Furthermore, almost 90% of foreign exchange transactions involve the U.S. dollar thanks to its liquidity.

However, countries are increasingly finding alternative options than the dollar. Today, Western businesses have begun settling trade with China in renminbi. Looking further ahead, digital currencies could provide options that don’t include the U.S. dollar.

Even more so, if the U.S. share of global GDP continues to shrink, the shift to a multipolar system could progress over this century.

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