The 2023 (20th) "World's Top 500 Brands" list, compiled exclusively by World Brand Lab, was announced in New York on December 13. Microsoft, which was No. 2 last year, beat Apple to the top spot; Apple slipped into second place; Amazon was third. The United States occupies 193 of the top 500, ranking first in the brand power. France, China, Japan and the United Kingdom are the second camp of world brand powers. The number of Chinese brands selected (48) surpassed Japan (43) for the first time, ranking third in the world. Among the standout brands are State Grid, Tencent, Haier, Huawei, China Resources, China Life Insurance, Wuliangye, China Southern Power Grid, Tsingtao Beer, Sinochem, Hengli, Xugong, Shenghong and China International Trade Holdings.

The World's 500 Most Influential Brands is judged on the basis of a brand's global influence. The so-called Brand Influence (Brand Influence) refers to the ability of the brand to open up the market, occupy the market and obtain profits. According to the three key indicators of Brand influence, namely Market Share, Brand Loyalty and Global Leadership, the World Brand Lab has conducted a comprehensive score on more than 8,000 well-known brands worldwide. Finally, it launched the world's 500 most influential brands. When measuring brand loyalty, we refer to the Rating data of iTrust Rating. SuperFinance's ESG database was used to measure brands' leadership and specifically their ESG (Environmental, Social and governance) scores.

Professor Steve Woolgar, emeritus Professor of Marketing at the University of Oxford and chair of the Academic Committee of the World Brand Lab, pointed out that the World Brand Lab has compiled the World Brand report for the 20th year, and the total number of countries included in 2023 is 32. From the perspective of the country distribution of the number of brands, the United States occupies 193 of the top 500, still occupying and maintaining the position of the world's first brand power with a large advantage; France, China, Japan and the United Kingdom have 49, 48, 43 and 34 brands respectively on the list, which is the second camp of the world's brand powers; Germany, Switzerland and Italy are the third camp of brand powers, with 28, 17 and 15 brands selected respectively. It can be seen that even if the pace of economic recovery in Europe is slowed down by geopolitical conflicts and energy crises, the super brands of European countries are still strong. However, due to the fragility of the economy and the tension of the geopolitical situation, most multinational brands are facing multiple pressures, and the development difficulty is further increased.

Empirical research by the joint team of World Brand Lab and SuperFinance found that multinational brands are gradually feeling these related pressures brought about by globalization, and brand expansion strategies need to shift to multiple localization, and improve the brand's ESG (environmental, social and governance) performance as a shortcut. Because the correlation between brand value and ESG performance is getting stronger and stronger. This year's list of the World's top 500 Brands covers 47 industries. Among them, a total of 35 food and beverage brands ranked first; A total of 32 automotive and parts brands ranked second; The retail sector continues to recover, with 28 brands on the list this year, tying for third place with the energy sector. In the media sector, 26 brands ranked fifth. Other industries with the highest number of entries are Internet (24), banking (24), insurance (24), computers and communications (23) and telecommunications (21). As the world ages, there is room for sustainable growth for pharmaceutical and health brands.

A total of 25 brands are new to the list this year. Among the new entrants, the highest ranked brand is CIGNA GROUP of the United States, at 85, which has built a large global medical network to support its business and provide 24-hour online care. Famous brands such as SpaceX of the United States, ENEL of Italy and ASML of the Netherlands are also on the list. The six new brands from China (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) are POLY, TikTok, China Huadian, TONGWEI, China Aviation Oil (CNAF) and Bosideng. The list of 2023 brands includes some brands that have experienced serious operating crises, major scandals, and negative impacts on society, such as Switzerland's Credit Suisse and the United States' MGM Group. In addition, there are some brands due to poor performance, development than expected and other factors, such as Priceline (Priceline) in the United States, Skype and so on.

The average age of the World's Top 500 Brands in 2023 is 98.57 years old, up from 98.22 years old last year. Among them, there are as many as 225 "centennial veterans" who are 100 years old and above, accounting for more than 40%. French company Saint-Gobain (358 years old) is the oldest brand in the corporate world, Aviva (Aviva) and Moutai (Moutai) ranked second and third, both have a long history of more than 300 years. of the 48 Chinese brands on the list, only Moutai, TSINGTAO, WULIANGYE, Bank of China and AIA outperformed Bailing. By industry, food and beverage brands are the oldest, with 30 of the 35 brands over 100 years old.

John Deighton, an emeritus professor of business administration at Harvard Business School who will be attending the World Executive Summit and the launch of the World's Top 500 Brands in Hong Kong on December 19, said, "Don't make brands directly involved in global conflicts. It's about building brands with creatives and influencers. The earliest dates back to 2008, when Coca-Cola marketed on Facebook and Ford used creatives to launch the brand Carnival. Given that China is ahead of the US in creative marketing, this approach to branding should be attractive to Asian marketers." According to Prof. Jean Claude Larreche, emeritus professor of marketing at INSEAD and author of the best-selling new book Value Capture Selling, "This increasingly complex and changing world is a stress test of brand health." To this end, entrepreneurs should focus on two strategic priorities: one is to focus on enterprise value growth, not just revenue growth; The second is to focus on the acquisition of enterprise value, not just the creation of customer value."

Dr. Ding Haisen, CEO of the World Manager Group and a member of the World Brand Lab expert group, believes that managing uncertainty is a required course for future ceos. For the CMO or CBO, it must rely on artificial intelligence (AI) to detect the brand footprint on a global scale around the clock. Prof. Sara Kim, Professor of marketing at the School of Economics and Management of the University of Hong Kong, believes that global brands need to operate locally, including establishing a dedicated geo-crisis management team, incorporating local regulations and policies, and developing unique product lines according to local preferences and cultural influences. Build strategic alliances with the local community while continuously improving environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards in your operations. No matter how complex the real world, a brand's purpose needs to be clear, says Prof Jing Xu, a marketing professor at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management. Many great and growing brand examples show us that true sustainability can only be achieved if the goal of benefiting people and the world is included in its mission.

The World Brand Lab's year-end report found that over the past 10 years, brands' global strategies have come under increasing pressure, and consumers' trust in global brands is declining. Economic, political, social, and technological factors are pushing back against globalization, and this is driving the era of multi-localization, in which companies need to adjust their organizational structures to focus more on the integration of brands with local communities, industries, cultures, and customs. Since 2003, the World Brand Lab has tracked more than 80,000 major brands in 60 countries. As the World's leading Brand consulting, research and evaluation organization, the World Brand Lab (World Brand Lab) was founded and served as the first chairman by Professor Robert Mundell, 1999 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, and is wholly affiliated with the World Manager Group.