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Top 10 most powerful brands in the world: Every year, leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance puts thousands of the world’s top brands to the test. Here’s a list of the top 10 winners this year.
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Walt Disney<br> Brand value: $31.7 billion<br> The acquisition of Star Wars, ESPN, Pixar, The Muppets and Marvel has made Disney the most powerful brand in the world. Star Wars has been particularly profitable for Disney since it acquired Lucasfilm for just over $4 billion in 2012. Brand Finance now estimates the Star Wars brand to be worth $10 billion. But Disney is not only powerful because of recent purchases, it benefits from a long and established history. (Reuters)</br></br>
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Lego<br> Brand value: $4.5 billion<br> The least-valuable brand in the top 10 is also the second-most powerful. Its success is built upon the strong foundation of being in every child’s toy box, but the Danish company has suffered some PR defeats over the past year, which kept it off the top spot. Lego attempted to prevent Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei from making Lego art, for example. After widespread uproar, Lego reversed the policy in January. Lego was also fined by German regulators for attempting to prevent retailers from discounting its products.(Reuters) </br></br>
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L’Oreal<br> Brand value: $14.9 billion<br> L’Oréal has managed to maintain an air of exclusivity despite its huge number of dedicated consumers. Brand Finance puts this success down to massive investment and an “unrivaled focus on marketing”. Sales grew by 5.3% in the first six months of last year. Despite Brazil becoming a challenging market for the hair and beauty product brand this year, it has grown in emerging markets such as China. (Reuters) </br></br>
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PwC<br> Brand value: $18.6 billion<br> PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has a brand built on being one of the ‘Big Four’ auditors, alongside KPMG, EY and Deloitte. PwC edged out McKinsey to be the most powerful brand in the financial industries this year. 2015 was a good year for the firm, which marked a 10% increase in overall revenues from the previous year. (AP)</br></br>
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McKinsey<br> Brand value: $4.8 billion<br> The consulting firm McKinsey has a power network of more than 1,400 partners and 18,5000 employees. The brand is constantly adapting to changes in the workplace and its consultants are often drafted in to lead big business transformations. (Reuters) </br></br>
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Nike<br> Brand value: $28 billion<br> Nike has defined ‘cool’ for 40 years and the brand’s popular appeal has not fallen in recent times, boosting sales as a result. Revenue rose by 4.1% in its most recently reported quarter, ending November 30. This was largely driven by demand for shoes and apparel in North America. The brand has found recent success in appealing to consumers via Instagram, on which it has more than 31 million followers. (Reuters)</br></br>
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Johnson’s<br> Brand value: $15.1 billion<br> Perhaps a surprising entry in the list, Johnson’s is established as the leading baby product brand. Despite a year of falling revenue, parent company Johnson and Johnson posted a 27.6% boost in its fourth-quarter profit. However, Johnson’s consumer products may split from the pharmaceuticals and medical devices divisions over the coming year, which will have consequences on its brand valuation in next year’s ranking. (Reuters)</br></br>
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Coca-Cola<br> Brand value: $34.2 billion<br> Coca-Cola is still incredibly popular, but the brand has been somewhat undermined over the past few years by consumers opting to switch away from sugary drinks. Low-sugar ‘Coke Life’ has had disappointing sales, particularly in the UK, where sales dropped by 71% between October 2014 and November 2015, as per Brand Finance. The company recently launched its new ‘Taste the Feeling’ global campaign to unite the various incarnations of Coca-Cola under one message. (Reuters)</br></br>
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NBC<br> Brand value: $16.1 billion<br> NBC claims it is un-threatened by the rise of non-linear TV services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Executive Alan Wutzel boasted in January that “everyone goes back to watching TV like God intended”. Wurtzel was referring to data obtained by Symphony Advanced Media, which shows that the most popular shows on online streaming services still get far fewer viewers than the best shows on traditional TV. (Reuters)</br></br>
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Google<br> Brand value: $94.2 billion<br> Over the past year, Google has gone through big changes, having reorganised its structure to sit under parent company Alphabet in October. While cost-per-click advertising has been declining over recent years, the tech company is increasing its ability to generate substantial mobile revenue. (Reuters)</br></br>
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