Meet the 2017 World Most Admired Technology and Retail Companies
Concurrently with BrandZ issuing their 2017 top 100 global brands report which was analyzed in the last post, Fortune Magazine published their latest list of the world most admired companies.
In a digital highly connected world, branding and differentiated customer experiences will define leadership. What is the correlation between brand value and being most admired? Which companies have already achieved the threshold in being on both lists? What differentiates these companies? Which industry trends are driving increased brand value and being most admired? Are western brands the future of these two lists?
The Top 10 Most Admired vs The Top 10 Global Brands
- Technology dominates both lists from an industry sector point of view. Five of the top 10 most admired companies are on the most admired list. In the brand value report, seven of the top 10 companies are from internet and computer sectors.
- Apple is dominating the conversations being number one or two on both lists.
- The fearsome five technology giants - Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook - which combined accounted for 25% of the total top100 brand values are on both lists. All five of these companies had an increase in brand value in 2017.
- Outside the fearsome five, multiple of the other top 10 most admired companies have dramatically increased their investments in digital technologies. "Starbucks digital flywheel has continued to gain momentum with the launch of true one-to-one personalization." Disney invested $1 billion in magical RFID wristbands in 2015 and just recently announced equity investments in 11 tech & media companies. General Electric has bet the company on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT),
- Starbucks which was the number three on the most admired list was eighteenth in brand value. Disney ranked 14th in brand value. General Electric ranked 15th in brand value. Berkshire Hathaway and Southwest airlines did not appear in the top 100 brand value report.
The Top 10 Brands of 2017 in Retail and Technology
Prior to further comparisons between the most admired and highest brand value companies, let's revisit the BrandZ retail and technology leaders from the last post.
The Top 10 Most Admired Companies in Technology and Retail
Summarizing the world's top most admired companies from the Fortune report in both technology and retail:
The Top 10 Most Admired vs The Top 10 Global Brands Revisited
Relooking at both lists by sectors leads to additional interesting insights:
- Accenture was number 1 in being most admired and number 8 in highest brand value. Similar pattern for IBM. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon dominate the rankings in most admired companies.
- Nike is the standout appearing both as number 1 in highest value apparel brand and number 1 in the list of most admired companies in apparel.
- Adidas, Gucci, Home Depot, Walmart, Victoria Secrets (L Brands), Lowe's, and Costco appear on both lists. All these companies have linked higher brand value to being most admired.
The Correlation between Brand Value and Becoming a Most Admired Global Company
Having the highest brand value does not automatically translate into being a most admired company. To fully understand this just look at the luxury sector where strong brands are not automatically translating to most admired.
Technology is a key differentiating driver in both increasing brand value and becoming a most admired company. Technology is the sector leading both lists. Future digital engagements will require increased investments to deliver value at a global scale.
All companies will be challenged create unique branding experience to stand out in a continuously diversified global crowd. China and other emerging markets are developing brands that will challenge the leadership of the West. Alibaba is the number 2 general retailer on the BrandZ list and its brand value increased 20%. Tencent is the world's 4th largest internet company by revenue and appears prominently in both the BrandZ and Fortune studies.
Increased brand value is pre-requisite to becoming a most admired global company. Adopting digital technologies accelerates the correlation. Passionate engaged customers and employees increasingly reinforced by technology are key to the transition between the two lists.
Lead, by actualizing your personal and professional brand value dream by engaging passionately with employees / customers and you will be most admired.
