Dive Brief:

• Bets on artificial intelligence (AI) are helping fuel brand value growth for technology firms like Nvidia, according to Kantar’s 2024 BrandZ rankings. 
• The total value of the world’s top-100 biggest brands has risen 20% this year to nearly $8.3 trillion, reversing a downward slide seen in 2023 amid macroeconomic volatility. Those figures are above pre-pandemic growth trend expectations, indicating brands have accelerated their growth trajectories since 2020.
• Tech mainstays like Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft continued to dominate the top ranks of Kantar’s list but challenger companies have also surged. The enterprise technology and services category experienced the fastest gains, with brand value jumping 45% year over year on the tails of AI hype.

Dive Insight:

At a glance, Kantar’s BrandZ report doesn’t appear too different from last year’s rankings. In fact, the top-five most valuable brands are totally unchanged, with Apple claiming the No. 1 spot for the third year in a row to become the first company to surpass the $1 trillion mark in total brand valuation as tracked by the firm. The iPhone maker was followed by Google, Microsoft, Amazon and McDonald’s.

However, underlying growth drivers are quickly shifting amid the rise in AI and changing consumer needs. Kantar billed 2024 as a period where businesses will reposition around fast-emerging AI tech that’s started to shake up brand marketing, media and other industries while still undergoing some intense growing pains. Look no further than Apple’s developer conference earlier this week, which focused on a partnership with ChatGPT developer OpenAI and new AI bells and whistles that will come built into the latest iOS software updates. 

In another telling sign of AI’s impact, Nvidia leaped 18 places to the No. 6 spot in the BrandZ rankings, a 178% increase in brand value. The chipmaker, whose hardware and software is helping fuel the pivot to AI, has seen soaring stock valuations, with a market cap recently surpassing $3 trillion. AMD, a rival, experienced a 53% bump in brand valuation, climbing nine spots and contributing to category momentum behind enterprise technology and services platforms. 

That said, many generative AI businesses are fairly undifferentiated, opening opportunities for stronger marketing. Among all brands assessed by Kantar, one in four carried clear “personality associations” while just one in 10 generative AI tools did, according to the report. 

Newcomers and re-entrants to the BrandZ top 100 included Lululemon, Corona and China-based Pinduoduo, owner of the ultra-cheap e-commerce site Temu, which has quickly expanded in the U.S. Consumer-facing tech and media generally had a strong bounce back following a fallow period.

Google Cloud, Instagram and Facebook, Booking.com, Netflix and Uber were among the fastest-rising brands measured by Kantar. TikTok, the popular video-sharing app that is contending with the threat of a ban or sale in the U.S., was up 36%, suggesting ongoing political turmoil has not turned off users.   

While Kantar identified positive brand value growth in a macro sense, with trends outpacing global economic recovery, it cautioned that some tactics are losing their luster and that volatility will remain a major factor for brands to consider. Pricing-driven strategies, which have helped offset volume declines in segments like packaged goods, are reaching their limit as consumer budgets are exhausted and inflation is slow to cool.