Movies are the drawcard

Disney has been ranked the world’s most powerful brand, edging out Lego, according to a new survey by strategic consultancy Brand Finance.

The company attributes Disney’s new position to the success of the Star Wars movie franchise, and says the Danish toymaker’s slip is due to a series of controversies, including an attempt to prevent German retailers from discounting its products.

Brand Finance says a brand becomes powerful through factors such as staff satisfaction, corporate reputation, investment in advertising and marketing, and market familiarity.

Cosmetics brand L’Oréal is the world’s thirdmost powerful brand, overtaking consulting brands PwC and McKinsey. Nike, Coca-Cola and Google also feature on the top 10 most powerful list. Though Apple doesn’t make that list, it remains Brand Finance’s most valuable brand, ahead of Google, Samsung, Amazon and Microsoft. Amazon, which is now competing aggressively in content generation, moves up four places, from eighth spot in 2015.

Among the brands in the top 20 that have moved down are McDonald’s, GE and Coca-Cola.

Disney has dropped four places in the mostvaluable list.

Indicating the growing dominance of Facebook in advertising, the social media platform is listed as the 18th most valuable brand, up from 32nd in 2015.