The Big Question: What is the secret to being the world’s best brand?

The world’s biggest brands have missed out on $200bn (€192bn) of revenue in the past year. What could they have done better?

It’s been 25 years since the first Best Global Brands report was published. The world has changed a lot in that time with the launch of the iPad, GoogleMaps and social media.

Where some brands have grown into global giants, some have practically disappeared from our consciousness. (Nokia, we’re looking at you.)

But what is the secret to brand longevity and growth?

In this episode of The Big Question, Hannah Brown sat down with Gonzalo Brujó, the CEO and President of Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy.

What makes a brand successful?

According to the latest Best Global Brands Report, the cumulative worth of the world’s 100 most valuable brands has more than tripled since Interbrand published its first ranking in 2000.

And while a growth from $988bn (€950bn) to $3.4tn (€3.3tn) might seem impressive, Gonzalo said it could have been much better.

In fact, with the right brand and marketing strategy, they could have been worth $6.9tn (€6.6tn) collectively, he suggested.

That’s $3.5tn (€3.3tn) worth of missed value creation, the equivalent of the UK’s entire GDP.

“Companies are looking for all performance marketing. They are really concentrated on how I can sell today, today, today,” Gonzalo told Euronews.

“And what we recommend is that brands need to combine marketing strategies. It is about performance marketing, but it is also about how they can build their brand in the long run.”

What are the most successful brands doing right?

The biggest climber of 2024’s ranking is Ferrari (+21%, ranked #36). Gonzalo attributed its success to the company’s diversification.

“Companies that are investing in different categories, this year, had an increase of 6% versus the companies that are just working in a single category,” he explained.

This was evidenced across several luxury brands who have made moves across hospitality, entertainment and fashion to engage their audience into 360 degrees of luxury.

It’s also the case for the returning champion, Apple who have dominated the top spot since 2013 and operate in the tech, entertainment, financial services and health space.

Will we see a rise of personality brands?

For the first time in their year’s ranking, Jordan, the Michael Jordan off-shoot from Nike entered the top 100 and was the first personality brand to do so.

Ranking at #99 and valued at $6.4bn (€6.2bn), Gonzalo doesn’t see the entrance of Jordan as the start of a new brand trend.

“I see other brands that probably will appear in the ranking related to AI or travel and hospitality.

“But for the time being, I don’t see any kind of personality brand in the future.”

In fact, Gonzalo warned of the dangers of having one person too closely related to a brand. He cited Tesla, who, prior to the US election, had one of this year’s largest value declines (-12%), as an example of this.

“I think the way that Elon Musk presented himself to the public has been very polarising. I think this is beginning to affect the relationship between Tesla, Elon Musk and its customers.”

The Big Questionis a series from Euronews Business where we sit down with industry leaders and experts to discuss some of the most important topics on today’s agenda.

Watch the video above for the full conversation on the Best Global Brands Report.

Video editor • Vassilis Glynos