The 100 Most Valuable Global Brands

 Apple is the most valuable brand in the world in 2023, with a brand value of $880 billion.

Google is the second-most valuable brand ($578 billion), and Microsoft is the third-most valuable ($502 billion).

That's according to Kantar BranZ's annual ranking of the world's most valuable brands.

An infographic (below) looks at the 100 most valuable global brands in 2023, covering each brand's total value and what industry it is in.

Check out the infographic:

https://cutt.ly/UwsTi3yI

How AI Rewrote the Slogans of 50 Well-Known Brands

 Can AI do a decent job of rewriting the taglines of popular brands?

To find out, Quality Logo Products had a generative AI program rewrite the slogans of 50 top companies. The researchers then surveyed 1,007 Americans to find if they liked the original slogan or the AI-generated slogan better.

Overall, people preferred the slogans generated by AI 46% of the time.

The AI-generated slogans that people preferred most over the original slogans were for Google, Facebook, Samsung, Adobe, GoPro, and Microsoft.

The original slogans that people preferred over the AI-generated slogans included those for McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Walmart, and Pizza Hut.

The slogans that people were fairly evenly split on included those for LEGO, Levi's, and Ford.

About the research: For the report, the researchers had a generative AI program rewrite the slogans of 50 top companies. They then surveyed 1,007 Americans to find if they liked the original slogan or the AI-generated slogan better.

https://www.marketingprofs.com/

The Most Hated Brand in Countries Around the World

 What brand do people complain about most in different countries around the world?

To find out, Merchant Machine evaluated tweets containing brand names for positive or negative tones using an AI sentiment analysis tool.

The researchers then determined the most hated brand for many countries based on the highest proportion of negative tweets.

An infographic (below) presents the findings of the analysis.

https://cutt.ly/R5GNMSJ

Creating and Defending a Strong Brand

 

Your Brand is much more than your logo

Your brand is the way you want the world to know you. It should allow people to quickly understand key aspects of who you are, what you do, the “feel” of your company or product, and it should be something that sets you apart from others. It should not be taken lightly, and once you define your brand, you need to make sure everything you do lives up to the guidelines that define it, to create and defend a strong brand. You too as a Top Executive need to have your own Personal Brand (see link at the bottom for more info on this).

Your Brand needs to be part of your business strategy. This will help you decide what you want to offer, to who, at what price, through what sales channel, and how you will communicate this to the market. I’m a believer it is easier to sell what people want, so take time to listen to your market and find out what they want. Knowing your market helps you create a brand that connects to your prospects in ways they can relate to and keeps you above your competition.

Of course, some companies like Apple have been very successful at building products that people did not know they wanted – yet. What Apple does is understands the way things are and where there is “discontinuity” between what exists, and what could be. Then they jump into the gap and win!

Either way, you need to combine what you want to be with what the market wants, and there is where your Brand should live.

Know Your Why

Simon Sinek has generated a lot of press talking about discovering the WHY of your business. It’s a simple, yet important aspect of the brand you create. Your WHY determines what you offer the world, who you do business with, and what you say about your product or service. If you want to provide the ultimate in IT Services or the best hamburger, you have to decide what that looks like, then create the offering to match. Once you are sure of your vision and mission, you can offer products and services that live this out, and create a brand that represents this to the market.

If you have not evaluated your own Brand lately, it may be time for an update. Not that the Why of your Brand needs to change, but the way it connects to an ever-changing market may require revisions in how you present it. For example, during my time as VP of Marketing for EFA Processing, we had a division called Debt Relief Options (DRO) that provided Debt Settlement services. When I joined the company, DRO was trying to launch into the market but did not have a Brand that would connect to the market and live out their vision.

I factored in the needs of the market, the mindset of customers, the way we wanted to treat people as part of our vision, and the way others had gone to market before us. We changed the products and services we offered, the look and feel of our logo, our website, and the way we connected with our market. Here is the Before and After this effort to show you what changes we made as part of our re-branding efforts.

Your Brand Lives Everywhere – not just in your Logo

Your logo is a part of your brand but not ALL of it. Everything you say and do needs to have a consistent look and feel to represent your Brand. That includes your web page, Facebook page, printed brochures, trade show booth, and email blasts. This Brand Touch-point Wheel can help you think of key areas you need to be mindful of about your Brand.

The way you create and live out your Brand will make your Logo something others will be drawn to. No one knew what the Nike Swoosh was when they first saw it, but as the product developed a cult-like following, it came to reflect all that was great about Nike, and now EVERYONE knows what it is.

Your logo is the short version of your story and helps you build awareness with limited words or space. How you deliver on your brand will make people believers or mockers of your logo. The products you offer, the way you serve the market, the prices, the performance, all add together to confirm or contradict the brand you present to the market. If you don’t deliver what your brand promises, you lose credibility with your customers.

Take for example these two logos. One has always said it is the Ultimate Driving Machine, the other has tried to convince us that Quality was #1. One is more believable than the other – wouldn’t you agree? People may not know what the letter BMW stands for, but they can tell you the reputation they have created. Everyone knows what FORD stands for… (You will have your own version of this joke I’m sure.)

Create your brand wisely, nurture it patiently, and defend it passionately.

If you are struggling to do this well, contact me today and I will connect you to others who can help. This website is part of the Renaissance Executive Forums Brand image but we shine best when you see us in our Top Executive Groups. Come learn how we are serving the business leaders of DFW during our next CEO event.

by Robert Hunt

https://cutt.ly/w7cp1PH

How to Build a World-Class Brand

 Your brand is your biggest asset. It carries your reputation. It is why people do business with you.

Brands can always be improved. We have used our market research experience over the last 16 years to create a 10 step infographic which shows how to build a world-class brand.

To find out how you can build a world-class brand, check out our infographic below.

https://bit.ly/3Du76qL

The rise and fall of brands, 2000-2019

 

The Ultimate Guide to Branding in 2020

Written by Allie Decker

Discover how to create and manage a brand that helps your business become known, loved, and preferred

Products are never just products, right?

Coca-Cola is more than a soda. Starbucks is more than a coffee. Ray-Ban is more than a pair of sunglasses. Glossier is more than a tube of concealer.

Interacting with these products provide experiences, and we buy them with that experience in mind. Better yet, the companies that create and market them know exactly the experience they want you to have when you make (or consider) a purchase. That’s why they create a brand.

From the language in their Instagram caption to the color palette on their latest billboard to the material used in their packaging, companies who create strong brands know that their brand needs to live everywhere. They know their names extend far beyond the label.

The result? These brands are known, loved, and chosen out of a long lineup of options.

Who doesn’t want that? I know I do. That’s why we built this guide — to equip you to create and manage a strong brand that’ll help your business be admired, remembered, and preferred.

Use the links below to jump ahead to sections of interest, and don’t forget to bookmark this guide for later.

What’s a brand?

Before I dive into the importance of branding and how to build a brand, let’s go back to basics: What is a brand?

A brand is a feature or set of features that distinguish one organization from another. A brand is typically comprised of a name, tagline, logo or symbol, design, brand voice, and more. It also refers to the overall experience a customer undergoes when interacting with a business — as a shopper, customer, social media follower, or mere passerby.

What is branding?

Branding is the process of researching, developing, and applying a distinctive feature or set of features to your organization so that consumers can begin to associate your brand with your products or services.

Branding is an iterative process and requires getting in touch with the heart of your customers and your business. It’s important for a variety of reasons — I dive into these next.

The Importance of Branding

Your brand is arguably one of your organization’s most important assets. It gives your organization an identity, makes your business memorable, encourages consumers to buy from you, supports your marketing and advertising, and brings your employees pride.

Branding can be the deciding factor for consumers when they make a purchase decision. In a 2015 global Nielsen survey, almost 60% of shoppers said they actively buy from brands they know, and 21% said they bought a product because they liked the brand.

Branding gives your business an identity beyond its product or service. It gives consumers something to relate to and connect with.

Branding makes your business memorable. It’s the face of your company and helps consumers distinguish your business across every medium (which I discuss later).

Branding supports your marketing and advertising efforts. It helps your promotion pack that extra punch with added recognition and impact.

Branding brings your employees pride. When you brand your company, you’re not only giving your business identity, you’re also creating a reputable, highly-regarded workplace. Strong branding brings in strong employees.

Branding Terms to Know

Here are some other brand-related buzzwords you should know. They further demonstrate the importance and value of branding your business.

Brand awareness

Brand awareness refers to how familiar the general public and your target audience is with your brand. High brand awareness leads to brands being referred to as “trending,” “buzzworthy, or “popular.” Brand awareness is important because consumers can’t consider purchasing from your brand if they’re not aware of it.

👉🏼 Strong branding makes your business known.

Brand extension

Brand extensions are when companies “extend” their brand to develop new products in new industries and markets. Consider Honda lawn mowers or Martha Stewart bedding. Brand extensions allow companies (or individuals) to leverage brand awareness and equity to create more revenue streams and diversify product lines.

👉🏼 Strong branding brings in more money.

Brand identity

Brand identity is the personality of your business and the promise you make to your customers. It’s what you want your customers to walk away with after they interact with your brand. Your brand identity is typically comprised of your values, how you communicate your product or service, and what you want people to feel when they interact with it.

👉🏼 Strong branding gives your business more than a name.

Brand management

Brand management refers to the process of creating and maintaining your brand. It includes managing the tangible elements of your brand (style guide, packaging, color palette) and the intangible elements (how it's perceived by your target audience and customer base). Your brand is a living, breathing asset, and it should be managed as such.

👉🏼 Strong branding requires consistent upkeep.

Brand recognition

Brand recognition is how well a consumer (ideally in your target audience) can recognize and identify your brand without seeing your business name — through your logo, tagline, jingle, packaging, or advertising. This concept goes hand-in-hand with brand recall, which is the ability to think of a brand without any visual or auditory identifiers.

👉🏼 Strong branding keeps your business top-of-mind.

Real-life brand example: Want to test your brand knowledge? Take this Logo Quiz by Business Insider to see how well you know your corporate brands. This is brand recognition at work.

Brand trust

Brand trust refers to how strongly customers and consumers believe in your brand. Do you deliver on your marketing promises? Do your salespeople and customer service go above and beyond? These things can create trust among your customers, which is important in a world where a mere 25% of people feel confident in large businesses.

👉🏼 Strong branding builds trust with your customers.

Brand valuation

Brand valuation is the commercial valuation of your brand derived from consumer perception, recognition, and trust. This concept goes hand-in-hand with brand equity. A powerful brand can make your business invaluable to investors, shareholders, and potential buyers.

👉🏼 Strong branding increases your business’s value.

How to Create a Brand

1. Determine your target audience
2. Establish your mission statement
3. Define your values, features, and benefits
4. Create your visual assets
5. Find your brand voice
6. Put your branding to work

Here’s how you can create a brand — or begin the process of rebranding your current one.

There’s a lot that goes into a brand, and there’s a lot to consider when building a strong one. So, grab a notebook and jot down ideas as you move through this section. Recognize that branding is an iterative process, so you might be repeating some of these steps as you brainstorm and build your brand.

1. Determine your target audience

Branding leads to awareness, recognition, trust, and revenue. We’ve talked about that. But let’s take a step back and understand where those stem from: consumers. And not just any consumers — your target audience and customers.

If your brand doesn’t resonate with your audience, it won’t lead to that awareness, recognition, trust, and revenue. That’s where target market research comes in.

Before pressing pen to paper (or cursor to digital document), you must understand to whom your branding will be speaking. Who does your product serve? Who is your ideal customer? Why did you create your business in the first place?

What you learn about your target market and buyer personas will influence your branding decisions down the line, so make this step your first priority.

Download our free Persona Templates to easily organize your target audience research and strengthen your marketing.

2. Establish your mission statement

Let’s return to a question I asked in the previous step: Why did you create your business? Answering this will help you build your mission statement, which defines your purpose and passion as an organization.

Before you can craft a brand that your audience recognizes, values, and trusts, you must be able to communicate the purpose that your business provides. Then, every part of your brand (logo, tagline, imagery, voice, and personality) can reflect that mission and vision.

Your mission statement is a building block of your brand manifesto, which encompasses why your organization exists and why people should care about your brand.

3. Define your unique values, qualities, and benefits

There are probably lots of businesses in your industry and niche. It’s easy to focus on your competition (and there’s a time and place for competitive analysis), but, for now, let’s focus on you.

What’s one thing that your business has that no one else can mimic (er, legally)? Your brand.

Because of that, you must ensure that your brand is comprised of and inspired by elements that are solely yours: the values, benefits, and qualities that make your company unique.

Take a moment to jot down a list of what sets your business apart from others. I’m not talking about product features (like appearance, components, or capabilities); I’m referring to how your products or services improve lives and contribute to success.

You’ve probably never heard of Alani Nu; they’re a nutrition company based in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. I order their vitamins because 1) they’re proven to work, and 2) I trust and respect the brand (and it’s gorgeous!). On their website, they’ve clearly and simply outlined their unique values and benefits as part of their overall brand. Highlighting these makes it easy for customers like me to trust their products and choose them over competitors.

4. Create your visual assets

At this point, you should understand your target audience, your mission statement, and the unique qualities that make up your business.

If you can say with confidence that you’ve mastered these steps, it’s time to move onto one of the more exciting parts of branding — the visual design. We’re talking about your logo, color palette, typography (fonts), iconography, and other visual components.

As you create these elements, build a set of brand guidelines (or a brand style guide) to govern the composition and use of your visual assets. This will ensure that whoever uses your new branding does so accurately and consistently.

Note: Design can be just as intimidating as it is exciting. Consider hiring a professional with logo and identity design experience or starting with a few helpful design templates.

5. Find your brand voice

Next, consider the auditory component of your brand. What would your brand sound like if you had a conversation with it, or if it texted you?

How you communicate with your target market is also considered part of your branding. You want to define a brand voice that connects and resonates with your audience — otherwise, they probably won’t pay attention. Because of that, don’t hesitate to return to step one to get familiar with to whom you’re speaking.

From your advertising campaigns and social media captions to your blog posts and brand story, ensure your tone is consistent throughout all of your written content. Give your audience a chance to get familiar with your brand and learn to recognize the sound of your voice. Better yet, master a fun, entertaining voice, and your customers will look forward to your social media and email updates.

MailChimp is a great example of a brand that speaks with a clear, consistent tone. When I used their free plan for my small business, I always chuckled when receiving their emails and working in their interface. From its web copy to its email blasts and social media captions, MailChimp has established a brand voice and personality that is personable, fun, and accessible — it can be hard to explain the technical parts of a software product (like A/B testing), but MailChimp has mastered that, too.

6. Put your branding to work

Your brand only works if you do. Once you finish designing and creating your new brand (or rebrand) integrate it throughout every inch of your business. Pay extra attention to ensure it’s displayed anywhere your business touches customers. Here are a handful of tips for applying your brand across your organization.

Website

Splash your logo, color palette, and typography across your website. Don’t use anything but your predefined assets in your brand guidelines. Your website is a major part of your company identity — if it doesn’t reflect your brand, it will only provide a jarring customer experience. Also, be sure that all web copy, calls-to-action, and product descriptions reflect your brand voice.

Social media

All profile photos, cover art, and branded imagery should reflect your brand. Consider putting your logo as your profile photo — this will make it easier for customers to recognize your business. As with your website, be sure all profile information, posts, and captions reflect your brand voice.

Packaging

If you have a physical products business, your product is probably the most tangible way that customers interact with your brand. For that reason, your packaging should reflect your new branding — in its design, colors, size, and feel.

I love Chobani yogurt (confession: I’m eating it right now). Their new branding immediately tells me that they produce authentic, healthy Greek yogurt. That’s one of the main reasons I buy Chobani. Recently, I realized that their yogurt packages are made with a very earthy, textured material — an intentional decision that supports the overall experience they’ve paired with purchasing and eating the Chobani brand.

Advertising

Because advertisements (digital and print) are often used to establish brand awareness and introduce consumers to your brand, it’s critical that they reflect your branding. In fact, your branding should make the ad creation process easier — with your brand style guide, you already know how your ads should appear and what type of copy to write.

Sales and customer service

A brand is only as powerful as the people behind it, and if your people aren’t putting your brand to work, it won’t work for you. Moreover, your brand applies to more than your marketing. Inform your sales and customer service folks of your brand guidelines and tell them to use it, especially when they engage directly with customers. Whether they are sharing a branded product demo or answering customer support inquiries, encourage them to use your logo, tagline, imagery, and brand voice.

Branding Tips for Small Business

• Treat your brand as a person
• Prioritize consistency
• Follow a brand strategy
• Don’t let inspiration turn into imitation
• Use branding to hire

Treat your brand as a person

To best wrap your head around the branding process, think of your brand as a person. Your brand should have an identity (who it is), personality (how it behaves), and experience (how it’s remembered).

Ask yourself these questions about your brand:

• How would your brand introduce itself? If it had to describe its appearance, how would it do so?
• How would your brand talk about your products or services? Would it be serious and professional, or would it be humorous and edgy?
• What would someone say about your brand after “meeting” it for the first time? What are a few sentences they’d use to describe it?

The purpose of branding is to create relationships with your customers. The easiest way to do this is to treat your brand as a person and understand that you want your customers to do the same.

Whiskey Riff is another brand you’re probably not familiar with. It’s a two-man media company based here in Chicago that’s dubbed themselves “the most entertaining country music site ever”. I’m a fan because I love country music, enjoy their written and podcast content, and proudly wear some of their awesome apparel.

If Whiskey Riff was a person, here’s how I’d think it would answer the questions above:

• “Hey, I’m Whiskey Riff. I love country music and, you guessed it, Whiskey. My logo was inspired by the Y in the circle on the Chicago Theater marquee, and I'm adorned with horizontal red stripes and stars — which represent the American and Chicago flags.”
• “I publish in-your-face content about what’s going on in country music today. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. My podcast featured my founders interviewing country music artists and telling hilarious stories. Check out my apparel line; my t-shirts, tanks, hats, and accessories can be seen at country music festivals (and on stages) nationwide.”
• “Whiskey Riff is like that first shot of Jack Daniels — that much-needed, refreshing drink after a long day. Its a break from that cookie-cutter way of life, and you immediately appreciate — and trust — its candidness. There’s absolutely nothing like it in the industry.”

Prioritize consistency

Inconsistency is the number one branding mistake that companies make. Inconsistency undermines your brand and confuses your customers. Recognizable, valuable brands prioritize consistency — and they reap the benefits. When your brand is a unified presence across mediums and platforms, customers can easily get familiar with, recognize, and come to prefer your brand over time. Brand guidelines can help with this initiative.

Build and follow a brand strategy

A brand strategy is more than your brand guidelines; it’s a plan with specific, long-term goals that can be achieved as your brand evolves. These goals typically revolve around your brand’s purpose, emotion, flexibility, competitive awareness, and employee involvement.

Remember how I said that branding is a continuous process? There’s a lot that goes into it. A brand strategy can help you turn that process into a well-oiled practice that keeps your brand moving toward success and recognition.

Don’t let inspiration turn into imitation

Competitive analysis is important. Not only does it educate you on where your competition stands and how they are excelling, but it can also give you ideas on how you can improve or further set apart your brand.

However, be conscious to not fall into an imitation trap. Keep your competitive research limited and focus on what your organization brings to the table. Just because a competitor (or two) has branded their company in a certain way doesn’t mean that you have to follow suit. New, unique, provocative brands are memorable brands.

Use branding to hire

Strong branding makes your employees proud. I know I’m proud to be associated with HubSpot, much less work there. Leverage your branding to attract talented people. If hiring is a strong initiative for your organization, dedicate some of your resources to employer branding. Employer branding is how you market your company to job seekers and current employees. If you’re publically proud of your organization, others will be, too.

Ready, Set, Brand

Branding is your organization’s name, logo, color palette, voice, and imagery. It’s also more. It’s that intangible feeling your customers have when they interact with your brand. You know … that experience we talked about in the beginning.

That’s how powerhouse brands deviate from all the others. The tangible components contribute to this — a gorgeous logo, a clever tagline, an authentic manifesto, and a clear brand voice — but truly strong brands thrive when they focus on the big picture of their brand. Get to the heart and soul of your target audience and your organization, and a successful brand will follow.