Tencent is judged most valued brand

Technology giant Tencent Holdings Ltd has become the most valuable Chinese brand, followed by Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd and China Mobile. The three companies were listed in the top 20 of the 100 most valuable global brands in 2017 released by BrandZ this month.

With the increasing popularity of WeChat, an instant messaging tool developed by Tencent, the share price of Tencent, China’s largest internet portal, surged about 60 percent in the past 12 months.

Among the total, technology brands dominate the list. US brands rose 12 percent in value year-on-year, and other brands declined 1 percent, except Chinese brands, which grew 1 percent. Thirteen of the global top 100 brands are based in China, up from only one brand, China Mobile, 12 years ago.

In terms of brand value, Chinese brands roared 937 percent in brand value over 12 years. Their total value now reached $406 billion and they now comprise 11 percent of the total, according to the report, which has been tracking brand values for 12 years.

Zhou Qiren, a professor at the National School of Development at Peking University, said: “Quality is the foundation of brands. Now, we need to start a quality revolution in China, so that Chinese brands will gain a footing globally. It can be foreseen that those Chinese brands, which can meet the demand of consumers with their high qualities, will hold a place in the world.”

As China pivots to a consumption-led economy, the most impressive performance has been posted by brands providing products and services for the urban middle classes, said the report, published by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown.

Apple Inc and Google Inc remained the No 1 and No 2 brands on the list, and Amazon entered the top 10, with a 41 percent growth in brand value, reaching $139 billion. The combined value of the top five US tech giants was worth 25 percent of the total value, the report said.

Meanwhile, the retail industry led the ranking in value growth, increasing 14 percent, driven by e-commerce, with Amazon and Alibaba surging 41 percent and 20 percent in value. The value of the top 100 brands increased 8 percent year-on-year, and they reached a combined $3.64 trillion.

Meanwhile, Adidas led the ranking in brand value growth, increasing 58 percent on the strength of its on-trend fashion and its initiatives to raise brand popularity in the US.

This year, the seven newcomer brands in the list are also technology-related — YouTube, HPE, Salesforce, Netflix, Snapchat, and telecom providers Xfinity and Sprint.