Apple has once more been declared the most valuable brand name in the world by Interbrand. It’s the seventh consecutive year the Cupertino company has taken the top slot.

The brand consultancy’s rankings do take into account the financial status of companies, but focus more on the factors that make the brand itself valuable…


We have a deep understanding of the impact a strong brand has on key stakeholder groups that influence the growth [of a] business, namely (current and prospective) customers, employees, and investors. Strong brands influence customer choice and create loyalty; attract, retain, and motivate talent; and lower the cost of financing. Our brand valuation methodology has been specifically designed to take all of these factors into account.

The top 10 are:

  1. Apple
  2. Google
  3. Amazon
  4. Microsoft
  5. Coca-Cola
  6. Samsung
  7. Toyota
  8. Mercedes
  9. McDonalds
  10. Disney

Interbrand scores brand names against 10 factors, each of which it considers key to customers choosing the company’s products over those of competitors. These are clarity, commitment, governance, responsiveness, relevance, engagement, differentiation, consistency, authenticity, and presence.

As in 2018, Apple scored particularly well in three of these, two of them the same as last year: differentiation and engagement. However, this year, “consistency” was replaced by “governance.”

Engagement is defined as the degree to which customers show “a deep understanding of, active participation in, and a strong sense of identification with, the brand.” In Apple’s case, it’s that consumers know what the brand stands for, and strongly associate themselves with those qualities.

Interbrand defines differentiation as consumer perception that the brand has a proposition and experience that sets it apart from other brands.

Governance is, says the consultancy, about management, which “enables effective and efficient deployment of the brand strategy.”

The net result, it calculates, is that the value of Apple’s brand is $234 billion, up 9% on last year. That makes it easily the world’s most valuable brand.

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