What are the top 5 brands in the world? In this guide, we will explore five of the most popular and trustworthy brands.
Some of the recent research has highlighted how some brands have really dominated the world market space with hundreds or thousands of services and products and therefore sustained their brand value growth constant.
Something that is important to note is the fact that some of them are very regular when it comes to the lists where companies are ranking as the best and most valuable brands in the world.
Successful brands are always able to create a great connection with their customers and are also able to stand the test of time with great business performance. They are doing that by implementing improvements regularly and also a ground-breaking market value.
When it comes to the most well-known companies and most recognizable global brands in the world the United States is still taking the largest slice of the pie, especially in the top ten brands.
American companies throughout the previous century and just before globalization made their current pick, making the country a powerful center and source of global market value.
There are countries like China that made some improvements with multi-billion dollar companies on their own and also shifted some of the most important market sectors. Even after so many investments, they were still not able to take away the top position that the United States is holding still.
In this article, you will be able to see the list of the top 5 brands in the world and some additional information about the brand value calculation formula.
Table of Contents
1. Apple
By many statistics, opinions, and facts Apple is the largest and most valuable brand in the world when it comes to global ranking. People from all around the world own, use and are satisfied with Apple products like iPhones, iPads, Apple watches, iPods, and many more which shows how well-known company is Apple.
Apple is still holding the title of the world’s most recognizable brand following a 35% increase to US$355.1 billion and its total brand value is the highest brand worth that was ever recorded in the Finance Global 500 ranking.
This company had a very successful year in 2021 and all that was highlighted at the beginning of 2022 with their achievement of being the first company ever to reach a US$3 trillion market valuation cementing themselves as the world’s strongest brand.
The recent growth is mostly because of the company’s recognition that its brand could be applied successfully to a much wider range of services.
The iPhone still contributes a lot when it comes to the brand’s sales and still accounts for 50% of all sales that this brand is making. Mostly because of this reason Apple started giving more attention to other products of their product range with a new generation of iPads, an overhaul to the iMac, and the introduction of AirTags. Additionally, their range of services from Apple Pay up to Apple TV has gone up and strengthened their position as an important part of the brand’s success.
When it comes to their logo and branding, there are many theories about the bitten apple. Some of the stories point to the biblical story about Eve and the forbidden fruit (apple) from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden.
While other people point to the bitten apple that is meant to signify a ‘byte’ of data. This is known by brand creators as a ‘wink’, which represents a humorous or hidden message that is not common knowledge.
Apple’s current branding was shaped by the company’s creator, Steve Jobs. The existing logo was the incarnation of the bitten apple, but instead of monochrome black color, it was painted in the colors of the rainbow.
The monochrome logo that Apple is using now took form in 1998 and it also helped Apple to establish a reputation for minimalism and add to its brand value.
2. Amazon
Amazon as the world’s biggest online retailer is almost always present in such rankings. They started their journey as a bookseller and expanded to the point where they can encompass virtually every category of retail and dominate the eCommerce (online shopping) business. Because of that reason, their brand value increased and they became more and more recognizable.
Amazon and Google in 2021 and the beginning of 2022 achieved a good level of growth or progress and they kept their spots in the Brand Finance Global 500 ranking as the most valuable brands and they came on this list right after Apple, keeping 2nd and 3rd position.
Amazon has joined Apple in reaching the US$300 billion brand worth mark with an increase of 38% to US$350.3 billion while sorting out their global supply chain problems and a workforce shortage in the same process.
From June 2021 they managed to hire 133.000 new workers and they announced their plans to hire additional 125.000 hourly workers since they anticipated continuing their growth.
The company is looking at their logistics as a key factor as they keep developing their supply chain by updating and growing their fleet of vans, trucks, and airplanes.
In 2020 and 2021, Amazon invested an estimated US$80 billion in its logistics division which is really high amount when compared with the previous five years when they invested around US$58 billion.
Apart from selling products through the eCommerce platform, this company owns subsidiaries that include companies like home security company Ring and Whole Foods Market.
Some of Amazon’s fastest-growing areas are Amazon Prime (subscription products), cloud computing services, streaming movies, and other kinds of entertainment.
Services that the company is offering such as Amazon Prime has helped them to become trusted by consumers. An additional plus is their fast and reliable delivery.
3. Google
There is always a space for Google when it comes to the top companies and most well-known companies in the world. The Google name is in the heads of everyone who has ever used the famous search engine.
When it comes to brand values Google is the third-largest brand on the planet now. Because it is the most used search engine on the internet, most global network users know about Google. That is one of the main reasons why the “Google” brand is on the list of most valuable brands in the global ranking. The specialists estimate its worth at $197 billion, which makes it the second most valuable brand on the planet.
However, this is not the only product of this company. Alphabet Inc. always works to develop new projects and improve their existing ones. As an example, Google at the moment is releasing cellphone gadgets from their own production, and they create software like Android OS. They additionally own popular internet services such as Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Google AdWords, and many more.
This company has a simple logo which is actually the word “Google” where every letter is colored with a single color like blue, red, yellow, and green. This logo went through many redesigns and most recently it was in 2015.
The last letter on the logo “e” has a different angle and serves as an example that Google as a company will be always a bit unusual, and that is according to Google’s design blog.
Apart from their logo, Google is additionally used to create various “Google Doodles” and they are made on days of significance or when they recognize the achievements of a person on their birthday throughout the year.
Google has really strong brand recognition. Users still refer to it as Google, no matter that the company was incorporated under the Alphabet Inc. umbrella. Their brand recognition is so big that people when searching are actually using the word “Googling” rather than other more generic search terms.
This happens because of the monopoly that this company has in the search engine world and because of their competitors such as Microsoft’s Bing which is proving to be the less popular option.
So, when we see their constant progress I guess it is honest to say that Google is one of the most valuable brands on the planet. This company is located in Mountain View, California, USA.
4. Microsoft
The tech giant Microsoft is holding 4th place on the list of most valuable brands on the planet. An important part of this “success” is going to the company’s founder Bill Gates and his appearance on every list of the richest people as one of the wealthiest and most charitable people on the planet.
Microsoft company under their wing also has a lot of different brands, including Windows and Office but both of them are sadly inferior in comparison with the brand recognition of Microsoft.
This corporation was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975. Microsoft was the first software company to publicly support adopting bundled software for personal computer systems (PCs) in order to make the PC experience more user-friendly and intuitive at the time.
Their software (the Windows operating system) was revolutionary at that time because it was made particularly for regular people to learn how to use computers very easily. This system was very important for this company because it showed phenomenal performances, and increased its brand value.
At the moment there is no doubt that Microsoft is one of the most recognizable names in the PC software industry worldwide. It supplies new generations with Windows operating systems, Microsoft Office, a set of document-editing apps, and a lot of other different products.
This company’s tech sector additionally works on peripherals and mobile devices as well as audio, video, and office equipment. The Microsoft company is located in Redmond, Washington.
5. Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company which is most usually recognized as Disney is a worldwide entertainment and media conglomerate which is stated in Burbank, California.
They are well known because of the popularity of their 11 entertainment parks, two water parks, and ABC – the major television and radio broadcasting network.
Characters and movies such as Tarzan, Cinderella, and Mickey Mouse have charmed people’s minds since the foundation of the company in 1923 by Walt Disney and his brother Roy Disney.
Just like many others, this company started as a very small animation studio and as you already know, with time it raised their brand value, became a factor in the global economy and now they are one of the largest and most famous in Hollywood.
This well-known film and animation studio want to remain amongst the most valuable brands and doesn’t have plans to stop growing and we can see that from their focus on acquiring promising companies.
One of the latest acquisitions was the 21st Century Fox. This acquisition is predicted to deliver a great amount of content and expand Disney’s global reach, and we are pretty sure it will show some extraordinary results.
It isn’t an actual surprise that Walt Disney company is so valuable brand and is topping the lists when it comes to the businesses with the very best reputation and is recognized as one of the best-known companies on the planet. This company is known for its family-friendly entertainment.
In recent years the Walt Disney production is known for pushing the “Star Wars” franchise ahead and also for doing the Marvel movies.
Brand Value Estimation
How is the brand value estimated?
There are a number of different ways in order to estimate a brand value, however, many of them seem to be controversial. Most people understand the concept of value through their own perspective or methods, which brings us to the point where we can conclude that estimation is generally subjective.
Here, we are going to explain some of the very popular methods and approaches when it comes to estimating brand value.
1. Costs in total
The brand’s value is calculated as the total of all costs incurred in its growth since its inception. Promoting costs, asset acquisition costs, personnel pay, and so on. After adjusting the annual amounts for inflation, the resultant sum represents the brand’s actual value.
It’s worth noting that the final brand value will only reflect the cost of brand creation, and the owners will most probably refuse to sell their company for that amount of money in case there is an offer.
2. Income
This method’s most important part is that future company revenue, which is actually directly connected to the brand is calculated with the purpose to assess the company’s current value.
The methods described here generate and contain very raw information, because of that reason in this article we actually used data information for different and very accurate online statistics.
3. Market Value
Market value signifies in my opinion the most simple way of estimation. The amount of issued shares is just multiplied by the present market price. In case you want, it will be easy to check online about different stock prices and how they vary.
The bad side of this estimation strategy is that stock prices vary often and rapidly, brand value can drop or rise dramatically, especially during a crisis, and there is a chance an asset to be overvalued by investors. However, those experienced investors already know which business stock will fall or rise during a crisis, so this stands for those with less experience.
FAQ
What is the most valuable brand in 2022?
The most valuable brand in 2022 is still Apple, with a market cap of $2.8 trillion, and Microsoft comes in second place with a valuation of 2.2 trillion as of the ranking shows.
Which 5 companies are the largest in the world?
In the first place, we have Walmart with an incredible number of 2.300.000 employees.
The second place is for the State Grid with 913.546 employees.
In the third position, we have Sinopec which has 667.793 employees.
Forth position is for China National Petroleum the corporation that has 1.636.532 employees.
The fifth position is for Royal Dutch Shell which has 84.000 employees.
Why is the McDonald’s logo so successful?
The yellow color is the most visible color in daylight and also this color is often associated with happiness. That is probably the main reason why McDonald’s logo is very easy to spot on crowded roads.
It’s popular fact that our brain processes color before it processes shapes or words, and that is the reason why this fast-food chain decided on these two colors to be added to their logo.
What is a global brand?
Global branding refers to the management of a brand in different areas and regions of the world, intending to increase the brand value growth and its strength and recognition within the markets in which it operates. This strategy can also be referred to as global branding or international branding.
Growing highlights
We already saw that Amazon still hold their first position as the world’s most valuable brand, growing 64% – to US$685 billion.
As the fastest growing brand, we have Tesla, growing its brand value by 275%.
Technology dominates with 7 of the top 10 brands coming from the tech sector.
Subscription rankings say that Spotify made a 454% growth in subscribers and a really good improvement in consumer brand equity.
The Most Impressive Brands in the World are On Top for a Reason
That is one impressive top 5 list when it comes to the best and most valuable brands in the world. It needs to be mentioned that many important and great companies down the list accompany already mentioned brands.
There are other really strong brands that we didn’t mention this time, like Samsung Electronics, Mercedes Benz, Samsung Group, and many other luxury brands.
