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- Brand Finance, a brand consultancy firm, released their most recent ranking of the most valuable brands in the world in 2018.
- The firm looks at marketing investment, stakeholder investment, and business performance to help it measure how much each brand contributes to the company.
- Amazon took the top spot this year.
- E-commerce, in general, dominated the list, with Amazon, Alibaba, and JD.com all ranking in the top 10.
Amazon is the most valuable brand in the world — but Walmart and Alibaba aren’t far behind.
Brand Finance’s 500-strong ranking shows how overwhelmingly digital of an age we live in, with a number of e-commerce brands taking top spots in the ranking. Home improvement stores like Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Ikea also have retained spots in the top 10, with Home Depot’s value up 12% from last year.
Target saw the greatest drop in value, down 20% from last year. According to Brand Finance, the brands that dropped in value are still trying to adapt to the digitalization of the industry, while online-only brands like Amazon and Aliaba are on the rise.
Here are top 10 most valuable brands, according to the firm’s rankings:
10. Target
Brand value: $13.67 billion
Percentage change from last year: -20%
Last year’s rank: 7
Target is losing value fast as it struggles to keep up with ecommerce focused brands, but is adding new initiatives like same-day delivery of online orders to become more competitive. Even though it’s value is down, Target reported same-store sales were up 6.5% in the second quarter.
9. Lowe’s
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Brand value: $14.02 billion
Percentage change from last year: +1%
Last year’s rank: 9
Lowe’s hold’s onto the same spot it held last year. It recently closed the Orchard Supply Hardware chain it aquired last year to focus on the Lowe’s brand.
8. Walgreens
The exterior of the Walgreens store in Times Square.Reuters
Brand value: $15.54 billion
Percentage change from last year: -3%
Last year’s rank: 8
Walgreens value is down -3% from last year. The company recently reported same-store sales were down by 1.2% at Walgreens in the most recent quarter
6. CVS Health
Brand value: $20.6 billion
Percentage change from last year: -12%
Last year’s rank: 6
CVS Health’s value is down, but the company, which is in the midst of a merger with Aetna, recently reported same-store sales were up by 1.6%.
5. Ikea
Brand value: $24.35 billion
Percentage change from last year: +1%
Last year’s rank: 5
Ikea remains consistent with the almost the same value as last year. The brand was ranked fifth last year as well.
4. Home Depot
Brand value: $33.74 billion
Percentage change from last year: +12%
Last year’s rank: 4
Home Depot holds onto the fouth spot from last year. Home Depot has 2,284 stores in North America, and appears to be the store of choice for millennials. In a Bank of America survey of 1,000 millennials, reported by US News, 64% said Home Depot was their top choice for home-improvement shopping.
2. Walmart
Brand value: $61.48 billion
Percentage change from last year: -1%
Last year’s rank: 2
While Walmart defends the number two ranking, its value remains roughly the same as last year.
1. Amazon
David Ryder / Stringer / Getty Images
Brand value: $150.81 billion
Percentage change from last year: +42%
Last year’s rank: 3
Up 47% from its 2017 value, Amazon is the largest online business by market capitalization and revenue. Beyond being an online retailer, it produces cloud infrastructure and electronics and is present in music and video streaming. In addition, the 2017 $13.7 billion Whole Foods acquisition took Amazon from the digital to the physical realm.
