LONDON — Starbucks Corp., Coca-Cola Co. and McDonald’s Corp. are among the top 50 most valuable brands according to “Global 500 2019,” a new report from Brand Finance, an independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy.
Brand Finance calculates the value of brands by examining a variety of factors, including brand strength, royalty rate and brand-specific revenues.
Technology companies dominated the top positions in the report, led by Amazon, with a 2019 brand value of $187.9 billion, and Apple, with a 2019 brand value of $153.6 billion.
The highest-ranking company in the report with food and beverage ties was Starbucks. The Seattle-based company ranked No. 31 with a brand value of $39.3 billion. Also ranking inside the top 50 were Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, which ranked No. 38 with a brand value of $36.2 billion, and McDonald’s Corp., Chicago, which ranked No. 43 with a brand value of $31.5 billion.
Other notable companies and their rankings included: No. 84, Nestle S.A., Vevey, Switzerland; No. 90, PepsiCo, Inc., Purchase, N.Y.; No. 126, KFC, Louisville, Ky.; No. 239, Groupe Danone, Paris; No. 253, Subway, Milford, Conn.; No. 305, Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, Mich.; No. 320, Domino’s Pizza, Ann Arbor, Mich.; No. 375, Tim Hortons, Oakville, Ont.; and No. 447, Kraft Heinz Co., Pittsburgh.
In addition to brand value, McDonald’s (No. 5) and Coca-Cola (No. 9) finished in the top 10 in brand strength. Brand Finance determined the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity and business performance.
“Brand Finance’s research revealed the compelling link between strong brands and stock market performance,” said David Hugh, chief executive officer of Brand Finance. “It was found that investing in highly-branded companies would lead to a return almost double that of the average for the S&P 500 as a whole.”
For the full report, click here.