Luxury shows strength in Best Global Brands report

Luxury brands have typically shown success, regardless of the economic climate. During the 2008 recession, luxury brands on the whole didn’t suffer as much as mid-range ones did. Now, though, they are exhibiting a new growth in terms of brand value, according to Interbrand’s annual ‘Best Global Brands’ report.

Mercedes takes the eight-spot, but the highest ranked luxury fashion brand is Louis Vuitton at 18th, showing 23% growth, since 2017. It’s followed by Chanel, at 23rd, which is a new entrant to the 100-strong list. But it’s not only luxury that proves its brand value this year. The usual suspects comprise the top 10: Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Toyota, Mercedes, Facebook and McDonald’s.

Where things are most interesting, in terms of year-on-year change, is in the middle of the group. Hermes makes a 15% jump in brand value. Accenture and Gucci also post double-digit increases in value while Netflix jumps by 45%. Not so for GE, which though named 16 in the top 100, has seen a 26% fall in brand value.

“A decade after the global financial crisis, the brands that are growing fastest are those that intuitively understand their customers and make brave iconic moves that delight and deliver in new ways,” says Charles Trevail, global chief executive officer at Interbrand.

Proving this are new entrants Subaru and Nintendo who take 99th and 100th on the ranking. However, with the launch of the Nintendo Switch and Subaru’s strong positioning in regards to diversity and social issues, both brands are reaping the benefits. They have ably faced industry change in each of their sectors and responded with the means to influence brand loyalty, awareness and sales. Netflix too, understands its customers and caters toward those needs in everything it does. Its recent spurt of own-brand rom coms displays a keen understanding of its Millennial users.

This is perhaps why luxury has outpaced retail for the first time. Though retail shows a 36% growth in brand value as a sector, luxury’s 42% increase is impressive. And luxury brands certainly have a point of view, a willingness to embrace the experiential and an understanding of how to work with influencers.

Rebecca Robins, global chief learning and culture officer and resident luxury expert at Interbrand, writes, “Across generations and industry, luxury brands have been seen as the North Star. They have challenged the impossible to create products, services, and experiences never before imagined. The question now is—what if brands were to move beyond what they are doing as individual businesses to what they could achieve as a collective? In Kering, LVMH, and Richemont, there are three groups with a powerful collective of brands under their aegis. Luxury brands are unique because they have written their own rules. They have the resources, influence, and ecosystem to rally together for good, and to set the bar for us all.”

Interbrand’s methodology is certified as complaint with the requirements for monetary brand valuation (ISO 10668). It measures financial performance, the role of brand in purchasing decisions and brand strength, loyalty and demand.

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