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Australia’s top brands jump in value by 15% to $194 billion

18 January 2023
·       Woolworths is most valuable brand for 4th consecutive year, up 18%
·       Bunnings is the nation’s strongest brand for second year running

View the full Brand Finance Australia 100 2023 report here

The total value of Australia’s top 100 brands has risen by 15% to reach AU$194 billion, according to a new report from leading brand valuation consultancy, Brand Finance. 74 of the brands in the Brand Finance Australia 100 2023 ranking saw an increase in brand value, while 21 dropped, 3 remained stable, and two new brands entered the ranking.

Australia’s top 100 most valuable and strongest brands are included in the annual Brand Finance Australia 100 2023 ranking.

Woolworths is most valuable brand for 4th consecutive year, up 18%

Woolworths (brand value up 18% to AU$16.2 billion) Woolworths has continued its focus on customer experience, including the roll out of curated ranges tailored to local communities, and offering more inclusive experiences to a wider range of consumers. Woolworths also continued to manage the impacts of climate change, working to reduce emissions from its own operations through green electricity and electric vehicle trials, as well as the phasing out of some plastic use. These factors continued to maintain the brand’s strong reputation and loyalty amongst Australian consumers and its position as the nation’s most valuable brand.

Coles (brand value up 10% to AU$10.9 billion), continues to hold on to its 4th spot in the ranking, enjoying a 10% brand value increase to AU$10.9 billion. Over the last year, Coles has continued to demonstrate flexibility and innovation, with improved scores for quality and value for money

Mark Crowe, Managing Director of Brand Finance Australia commented:

“Across the world, there’s been significant disruption in labour markets, goods markets, and fuel markets. Despite this disruption, Australian brands have grown quickly as they bounce back from the pandemic-disrupted past. With customers facing significant cost pressures, strong brands have an opportunity to earn a premium return.”

Big banking brands surge

After showing signs of a slow recovery, the banking sector last year has experienced strong growth in brand value for the leading banks with an overall 17% increase. Leading the way is the Commonwealth Bank (brand value up 28% to AU$11.4 billion) which has reversed its decline in brand value and regained its place as Australia’s third most valuable brand. Similarly nab (brand value up 36% to AU$7.9 billion) and ANZ (brand value up 22% to AU$7.6 billion) have recorded strong increases to be ranked the 5th and 7th most valuable Australian brands.

Conversely Westpac (brand value down 1% to AU$5.2 billion) and Macquarie (brand value down 3% to AU$4.6 billion) have recorded slight drops due to weaker brand strength.

Telecoms – A Tale of Two Brands

In maintaining its place as Australia’s second most valuable brand, Telstra has recorded a 29% increase to be valued at AU$13.2 billion. This strong growth has been driven by improvements for customer service, ease of dealing with, value for money and word of mouth, along with consideration and recommendation.

Conversely Optus’ brand momentum was significantly impacted by the cyber-attack experienced in September last year which led to unauthorised access of Optus’ current and former customers’ information. The resulting publicity and media commentary drove negative sentiment and as a consequence Optus suffered a near 10-point drop in brand strength and a consequential 19% fall in brand value to $3.3 billion.

Mark Crowe, Managing Director of Brand Finance Australia, commented:

“Removing the impact of this one-off pernicious event, Optus’ brand value would have otherwise increased by 11%.”

Bunnings is the nation’s strongest brand for second year running

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.

Bunnings (brand value up 35% to AU$5.4 billion) has maintained its position as Australia’s strongest brand, with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 88.2 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA brand strength rating. Bunnings has remained top-of-mind for Australian consumers and is noted for its strong attributes when it comes to available anytime anywhere, value for money and a wide range of Products.

Fellow retailers, Woolworths and Coles, round off the nation’s top 3 strongest brands in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. Telstra’s impressive 6-point rise has secured 4th place with Commonwealth moving up three places to 5th ranked strongest brand.

NRMA retains its ranking of Australia’s strongest insurance brand, while Seek enters the top ten strongest brands for the first time at ninth place.  

View the full Brand Finance Australia 100 2023 report here

ENDS

Note to Editors

Every year, leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance puts thousands of the biggest brands to the test, and publishes over 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries. Brand value is understood as the net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market. Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors

About Brand Finance          

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 of all kinds make strategic decisions.

Headquartered in London, Brand Finance has offices in over 20 countries, offering services on all continents. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 5,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.

Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm, leading 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.

Disclaimer

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.

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