Facebook Drops Off Top 10 List Of Best Global Brands Report

Interbrand’s 20th annual “Best Global Brands” report is missing a familiar tech company in the top 10 list — Facebook.

Apple, Google, and Amazon are still the three most valuable brands worldwide, Interbrand said in a press release on Thursday (Oct. 17). Facebook had the No. 8 position in 2017, then slipped to No. 9 in 2018. This latest report ranks the social media giant at number 14.

While tech companies dominated half of the top 10 companies, the report also indicated that the luxury and retail industry remains the fastest growing sector. 

Other top 10 brands in this year’s report are Microsoft, at No. 4, followed by Coca-Cola, Samsung, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, McDonald’s and Disney. The top retail brand (aside from Amazon) was Nike, ranked at No. 16, followed by Louis Vuitton at 17.

The report shows that 15 luxury and retail brands are in the top 100 and the sector has had the highest average brand value growth rate year over year at 11 percent. The most successful brands in the luxury space learned to cater to a younger “tech first” consumer seeking shareable retail experiences.

“Twenty years on from our first report, customers today are more informed, more connected and more demanding than ever before through a combination of wealth of choice, erosion of loyalty and shifting frames of reference wanting immediacy, abundance and intimacy — all at the same time,” Interbrand Global Chief Executive Officer Charles Trevail said in the release. 

This year’s report does a deep dive into successful brands through the “lens of Iconic Moves,” focusing on the transition of brand positioning and navigation amid rapid change and growing competition. 

“The age of brand positioning is over. In a world where customer expectations will continue to move faster than businesses, static brand positions and incremental change will just about keep brands in the game — but it will take, brave, we would say ‘iconic’, moves, to make brands leap ahead of customer expectations and ultimately deliver extraordinary business results,” he said.

Luxury fashion brands like Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton and Gucci are upping their social media game, especially on Instagram, and pouring real money into efforts to court young shoppers. Kering, the company that owns Gucci, spent 50 percent of its yearly media budget on digital advertising in 2018, which is up from 20 percent the year before.