SAP leads the first BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable German Brands ranking released by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown

SAP topped the BrandZ ranking with a Brand Value of £34.23 billion, followed by Deutsche Telekom at £27.44 billion. Car brands, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, took the third and fourth spots at £18.48 billion and £16.52 billion respectively, with the final spot in the Top 5 taken by logistics giant, DHL, at £12.8 billion.

The ranking underlines the role of Germany as the economic engine of Europe, keeping the region on the right road in times of uncertainty.

Not only is it home to many of Europe’s most valuable brands, but strong consumer demand for brands they can relate to, rather than just reliable products and services, has helped create brands with a strong sense of purpose.

Despite this strength, some German brands struggle to be perceived as innovative by consumers.

Adidas, however, bucks this perception and is Germany’s most innovative brand – indexing 123 (where 100 is the average brand) with a total Brand Value of £8.26 billion.

The total Brand Value of the German Top 50 brands is £214 billion – significantly ahead of the latest UK and French BrandZ brand rankings, with the UK more than £49 billion behind and France lagging by more than £42 billion.

Car brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen took the largest share of total Brand Value with a category value of £46.2 billion, followed by Technology at £34.23 billion and Telecom Providers at £29.33 billion.

The ranking underlines the breadth of the German economy, with brands from 19 categories, many demonstrating a powerful sense of purpose in response to consumer demands for brands that make a contribution to making people’s lives better beyond profit.

German brands score very highly for Brand Purpose, indexing on average 115 for the Top 50, where the average brand is 100, ahead of the global average and behind only the US.

“Germany is the juggernaut at the heart of the European economy and its brands are part of consumers’ lives all around the world. The Government’s active encouragement of innovation led by Chancellor Angela Merkel and it’s recognition that this is a chance to build a new relationship with consumers is welcome as this is one area where even Germany’s biggest brands are vulnerable to global disruptive rivals,” said David Roth, CEO EMEA and Asia, The Store WPP.

The BrandZ Germany Top 50 report also includes new research from Y&R’s BAV Group in partnership with U.S. News & World Report and the Wharton School, which examines what it takes to build powerful nation brands.

According to BAV Group’s 2018 Best Countries report, Germany ranks third overall out of 80 countries, excelling in economic, political, and social perceptions. The country’s powerful performance on entrepreneurship, strong job market, skilled labour force, and educated population generate a positive brand halo for Germany.

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