New data from Brand Finance reveals Europe’s top 500 brands hit EUR2.3 trillion in brand value despite global economic uncertainty
LONDON, 10 July 2025 – Adidas climbs from 25th position to become the fourth-strongest European brand in 2025, according to a new report from Brand Finance, the world's leading independent brand valuation consultancy. Adidas now commands a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 93.4/100 and an equivalent AAA+ rating.
The Adidas brand is valued at EUR16.6 billion, up 23% this year. According to Brand Finance research, this growth is supported by strong brand perceptions - scoring 9.6 out of 10 for knowledge, 9.7 for credibility, and 9.4 for appeal. Brand behaviours also remain solid, with scores of 9.0 for selection, 9.5 for price acceptance, and 9.1 for advocacy. These strong scores highlight Adidas’ ability to maintain consumer trust, relevance, and loyalty in an increasingly competitive market.
Deutsche Telekom (brand value up 12% to EUR76.5 billion) retains its title as the most valuable European brand, and the world’s most valuable telecoms brand. Since 2020, the T brand’s value has grown significantly, reflecting the company's strong market position and consistent strategic investments. In Brand Finance’s Global 500 2025 ranking, T also secured the 11th spot globally across all sectors. This achievement highlights its sustained growth and increasing influence beyond telecommunications, positioning it as a key player on the global stage.
Cristobal Pohle Vazquez, Associate Director at Brand Finance commented:
“T’s masterbrand strategy has streamlined operations and boosted brand perception across markets according to Brand Finance research, which reveals high scores for innovation, customer service, customer friendliness, and recommendation. Our data reflects T’s strong commitment to meeting customer needs and staying ahead of industry trends, which has solidified its position as a global telecoms leader.”
Mercedes-Benz (brand value down 14% to EUR47.6 billion) retains its position as the second-most valuable European brand; however, the ranking highlights a decline across German auto brands, reflecting sector-wide challenges amid shifting market dynamics and persistent global economic uncertainty. Of the seven German car brands included, only Audi saw an increase in brand value, going up 13% to EUR15.2 billion.
Allianz Group is the third-most valuable European brand, its brand value increasing by 2% to EUR44.7 billion. The Allianz brand has remained steady this year, with Brand Finance research finding it achieved very strong results for familiarity, credibility and appeal in the Euro-area. Meanwhile, it achieved weaker results in the same brand strength areas in European non-Euro nations Switzerland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
SAP has entered the top 10 most valuable European brands, increasing its brand value by 25% to EUR28.2 billion. This growth is largely driven by a surge in cloud revenues, bolstered by the company’s acquisition of WalkMe in September 2024, which aims to strengthen SAP’s digital adoption capabilities and strengthened its enterprise cloud offerings.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance operates in over 25 countries. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 6,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on 6,000 brands, surveying more than 175,000 respondents across 41 countries and 31 industry sectors. By combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database — the largest brand value database in the world — Brand Finance equips ambitious brand leaders with the data, analytics, and the strategic guidance they need to enhance brand and business value.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance, compliant with ISO 20671.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm and a committed leader in the standardisation of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
