Google eclipses Apple as most valuable brand of 2017

Brand Finance has released its list of the 100 most valuable American brands, and there’s a new No. 1.

Google has taken the top spot from Apple. It’s now considered not only the country’s most valuable brand, but the world’s, as well. The company held the top spot previously in 2011. Its brand value is pegged at $109 billion.

Brands are assed on a variety of factors, including “what proportion of a business’s revenue is contributed by the brand.”

Part of Google’s rise to the top is the stagnation of Apple’s technological innovation and branding efforts. Brand Finance explains in a press release:

2017 has already delivered one major shock to the branding world: Apple has seen nearly $40 billion wiped off its brand value. Apple has over-exploited the goodwill of its customers by failing to maintain its technological advantage and delivering tweaks to existing products rather than genuine innovation. Brand value has fallen 27% since early 2016 to $107 billion, meaning that for the first time in over five years, America (and the world) has a new most valuable brand.

Other brands have been hit with negative public perception as consumers turn toward healthier eating choices, and reject fast food, soda and sugar.

Brand Finance says:

Coca-Cola’s brand value was $43.1bn in 2007, making it the most valuable brand in America and the wider world. Today, however, its brand value now stands at just $31.8bn, putting it 16^th in the US and 27 ^th internationally. Increasing concerns over the links between carbonated drinks and obesity have begun to undermine what the Coca-Cola brand has represented for over one hundred years. Pepsi is similarly suffering, falling 4% to $18.3 billion.

The same trend is evident in the fast food industry. The brand values of McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Subway and Domino’s have all fallen due to heavy competition in an increasingly fragmented market, with healthier challenger brands offering greater choice for consumers.

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Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Facebook and more join Google and Apple on the list of the most valuable brands. Here are the top 10:

1. Google

2. Apple

3. Amazon.com

4. AT&T

5. Microsoft

6. Verizon

7. Walmart

8. Facebook

9. Wells Fargo

10. McDonald's

For the full list of the top 100 most valuable brands, check out the BrandFinance list here.

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