The contrast could not be starker: the major cards networks have enjoyed a blinding year in terms of growth in their brand values. Douglas Blakey reports
A number of major bank brand values have moved in the opposite direction.
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For the sector as a whole, for the third year in a row the number of financial brands included in consultancy Interbrand’s Best Global Brands has fallen, from 12 in 2012 to 11 in 2013.
The report, Interband’s 14th annual such survey, ranks companies according to their brand value, determined on the basis of financial performance, influence over consumer choice, and price-setting power within the market.
Among the winners, American Express (Amex), Visa and MasterCard register an increase in brand value of 12%, 11% and 8% respectively.
AmEx ranked 23 in the Interbrand Top 100 with a brand value of $17.6bn, with Visa (74th) and MasterCard (97th).
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By GlobalDataAmong the losers, the brand value of investment bank Morgan Stanley fell a staggering 21%, while Swiss-based Credit Suisse, dropped out of the Top 100 entirely.
Interbrand’s global CEO Jez Frampton highlighted companies’ relationship with consumers as central to their brand value: "Brands that learn to think differently about the role they play in consumers’ lives – and how to fulfil that role – have an opportunity to change the world in ways they never imagined," he said.
Not every bank brand surveyed endured a poor year: Goldman Sachs significantly outperformed its competitors, sporting a brand value increase of up 12% from 2012.
HSBC also performed strongly: it remains the most valuable retail banking brand ranking 32 (33 last year) in the Top 100 and enjoyed a 7% year-on-year hike in its brand value to $12.1bn.
Citi enjoyed a more modest 5% increase in brand value to $7.9bn to rank number 48, up from number 50 last year.
Santander inched down the Top 100 to rank 84th (from 76 last year) with a brand value slipping by 2% to $4.7bn.
Interbrand concludes that financial services providers must continue to focus on strengthening relationships with key constituencies and focus on clearly identifying their competitive advantages while ensuring transparency in their operations and interactions with stakeholders.
Overall, Apple takes top slot. Apple’s rise to the top of the tree marks the first time that there is a new number brand in the fourteen years of the survey, displacing Coca Cola.
Google jumped to number two from four while Coca Cola slipped from number one to three. New entrants in the survey for 2013 included Chevrolet, Discovery and Duracell.
