Woolworths named Australia’s most valuable brand in new report

Woolworths has been named as Australia’s most valuable brand worth just over $US6 million in a new report from British company BrandFinance.

Eight Australian companies feature in the annual Global 500 report rising five ranking places overall from 143 to 138. Telstra maintains its position as the second most valuable Australian brand, despite slipping 33 places from 163 to 196 on the back of just a 1% increase in brand value to $US4.3 billion.

Despite a difficult year for Australia’s banking sector, Australia’s banks have performed extremely strongly.

National Australia Bank’s brand value jumped 52% according to the report to $US4.1 billion, Commonwealth Bank jumped 46% to $US3.5 billion while Westpac’s brand value rose 69% to $US3.3 billion.

The Global 500 report examines data from listed companies around the world, and gives each brand a rating and value based on the brand’s financial strength.

US retail giant WalMart tops the list for the second year in a row, with its brand value increasing 2% to $US41.4 billion.

Internet search giant Google jumps from fifth spot to second position with its brand value up from $SU29.3 million to $US36.1 million, while Coca-Cola, IBM and Microsoft round out the top five.

The other Australian brands on the list are Foster’s (making the list for the first time at $US3.2 billion), ANZ ($US2.9 billion) and BHP Billiton ($US2.2 billion).

Despite the GFC, the value of the 500 brands on the list has risen strongly, up 26% to a total of $US2.9 trillion.

Indeed, BrandFinance says that banking sector enjoyed the biggest jump in brand value, with value up a whopping $US127 billion. Goldman Sachs, one of the most heavily criticised banks in the world, saw its brand value jump from $US6.8 billion to $US13.9 billion.

The telco and food sectors also experienced strong growth “as consumers return to both brands they trust and those offering a value proposition”.