A new list talking of world’s most valuable brands has been released and dragon country China has bagged top spots for the very first time.
Ranked at No. 9, Jack Ma’s Alibaba has joined along with Chinese Tech Giant Tencent alongside behemoth stalwarts such as Google and Apple.
Alibaba has witnessed its brand value go double to $113 billion as the e-commerce firm has diversified its portfolio landing into mobile payments and cloud computing.
Meanwhile, Tencent too has managed to secure a place in BrandZ top 10 ranking in 2017 and has gone from strength to strength over the past year. With a brand value of 179 billion, up by 65% compared to the company holds the 5th place behind giants Google, Apple, Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) but above Facebook (FB).
The BrandZ ranking published annually by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown has ranked top 10 most sought-after companies in the world as follows:
- Apple
- Amazon
- Microsoft
- Tencent
- Visa
- McDonald’s
- Alibaba
- AT&T
Talking about the list, Doreen Wang, the head of BrandZ has said that Tencent and Alibaba managing to secure a place shows that they have overcome numerous China-specific hurdles to become global powerhouses.
She further said,
The challenges facing Chinese brands are by no means small. Limited brand awareness in international markets, a lack of trust due to historic quality issues and a reluctance by Chinese brands to invest in impactful global advertising campaigns has put them at a disadvantage with their more established competitors.
She also said despite these challenges, times are witnessing a change especially in the attitude of younger consumers who are falling in love with Chinese brands.
Alibaba has been setting footprints in Brazil, Chile and other Latin countries while Tencent is gaining greater recognition in south markets such as Singapore and Thailand.
Google has been at the top of the ranking for eight of the past 12 years. Its brand is currently valued at $302 billion, up 23% from last year.