Every year, leading valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance values the brands of thousands of the world’s biggest companies. A brand’s strength is assessed (based on factors such as marketing investment, familiarity, preference, sustainability and margins) to determine what proportion of a business’s revenue is contributed by the brand. This is projected into perpetuity and discounted to determine the brand’s value. America’s 500 most valuable brands, classified by both their industry and their state, are featured in the Brand Finance US 500.

View the full list of America’s 500 most valuable brands here

National Results

America’s brands continue to reach new heights. The total value of America’s top 500 brands now exceeds $3 trillion dollars, having increased 11%, from $2.82 trillion in 2016 to $3.14 trillion this year.

Brand Finance CEO, David Haigh says, “President Trump, an experienced brand builder himself, appears to have fostered a conducive environment for continued brand value growth. However, his longer term approach and objectives remain hard to pin down and 2017 could deliver as many, if not more, shocks than 2016.”  

2017 has already delivered one major shock to the branding world: Apple has seen nearly $40 billion wiped off its brand value.

Apple has over-exploited the goodwill of its customers by failing to maintain its technological advantage and delivering tweaks to existing products rather than genuine innovation. Brand value has fallen 27% since early 2016 to $107 billion, meaning that for the first time in over five years, America (and the world) has a new most valuable brand.

Google remains largely unchallenged in its core search business, the mainstay of its advertising income.

“The recent controversy over Google’s placement of customers’ ads alongside undesirable content illustrates that even companies with apparently dominant market positions must be conscious of the risks to their most valuable asset, their brand,” says Haigh.

Amazon is growing strongly (brand value is up 53% year on year) as it continues to both reshape the retail market and to capture an ever larger share of it. With a brand value only fractionally behind Apple and Google already, Amazon could easily become the most valuable brand in the US and the rest of the world in 2018.

Coca-Cola’s brand value was $43.1bn in 2007, making it the most valuable brand in America and the wider world.

Today, however, its brand value now stands at just $31.8bn, putting it 16th in the US and 27th internationally. Increasing concerns over the links between carbonated drinks and obesity have begun to undermine what the Coca-Cola brand has represented for over one hundred years. Pepsi is similarly suffering, falling 4% to $18.3 billion.

The same trend is evident in the fast food industry. The brand values of McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Subway and Domino’s have all fallen due to heavy competition in an increasingly fragmented market, with healthier challenger brands offering greater choice for consumers.

2017 heralds huge success for America’s airline brands.

America’s airlines have all soared in value with United, Delta and American growing by 60%, 47% and 59% respectively. In the process, American has overtaken Emirates to become the world’s most valuable airline brand.

State Brand Battle

California remains America’s most valuable state by brand value. Its dominance in tech (the most valuable and fastest growing sector) has enabled California to pull well ahead of other states. Of the country’s top 500 brands, 71 hail from the Golden State, with a total value of $725 billion.

New York is in second place, but despite have just one fewer brand in the top 500 than California, New York’s total is significantly lower, at $481 billion. Finance comprises a large share of New York’s total brand value so New York has therefore been disproportionately affected by the stalling values of financial services brands.

The increasing concentration of brand value in tech also helps to explain Washington State’s strong performance. Washington has just 11 brands (16 states have more) yet as the home of tech titans Microsoft and Amazon, Washington ranks 4th with a total brand value of $242 billion.

3rd placed Texas has a much broader base of brand value. Its 48 brands have a total value of $263 billion. Oil & Gas brands are of course well represented, including ExxonMobil and its portfolio of brands, however Texas is home to major brands from a wide range of sectors including AT&T (telecoms), Dell (tech), American Airlines and Whole Foods (retail).

5th placed Illinois is another state with a diverse array of brands. 1st amongst its 31 brands is McDonalds, which has had a challenging year dropping 9%, however many of Illinois’ other brands are performing strongly with Boeing up 17%, Accenture 38% and United Airlines up 60%.

Only a handful of states have seen their number one brand change this year.

Google’s defeat of Apple is perhaps the most striking case, though some other iconic brands have lost their local flagship status.

For example, KFC is no longer Kentucky’s most valuable brand. It been hit by the turn away from less healthy fast-food operators and has seen its brand value fall 27% to $6.2 billion.

As if to illustrate a growing focus on health, Humana is Kentucky’s new most valuable brand.

The Health Insurance business’s brand is now valued at $7.1 billion, supported by continued customer acquisition, revenue growth and improving brand strength. Donald Trump’s bill to dismantle the Affordable Care Act had the potential to cause significant disruption to many healthcare brands, so its recent defeat bodes well for Humana.

Meanwhile Harley-Davidson has lost its position as Wisconsin’s most valuable brand.

In 2016 Harley was in the elite group of AAA+ rated brands and had a brand value of over $5 billion. However, this value has dropped 38% and Harley has been overtaken by both Fiserv and Kohl’s. The latter now leads Wisconsin’s seven brands with a value of $4.9 billion.

The number of states with brands in the country’s top 500 has remained constant at 37, however Arizona has dropped out, to be replaced by Mississippi. The Magnolia state’s Sanderson Farms makes its debut in the Brand Finance US 500 at 469th with a value of $1.3bn.

This is a press release published through HER Magazine. Access our monthly publication in iTunes or Google Play – it’s where we feature powerhouse women you can learn from and share exclusive content you won’t find here.

The post Google tops list for most valuable brand, Apple takes a Tumble appeared first on HER Magazine ™.

Over Half of Millennials Believe Their Company Would Benefit from Greater Diversity

25 Percent of Women Have Felt Unsafe at Work  

March 22, 2017- SEATTLE– A new study released today by leadership development and training experts Fierce, Inc. provides an inside look at how over a thousand employees feel about diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Millennials Embrace Diversity As Beneficial to an Organization  

Over 40 percent of survey respondents believe their organization would benefit from greater diversity. This number increases to 55 percent amongst those 18-29, however decreases to just 30 percent of those 60+.

A clear disconnect exists here between generations, and one that is important for organizations to address head-on.

Research confirms that millennials are more inclusive than previous generations as a whole, in both their personal and professional lives. This generation embraces the fact that diverse perspectives lead to greater innovation and enjoy working with colleagues that have different backgrounds and think differently, who challenge them to look at obstacles in a different light.

“Company leaders must encourage employees to embrace the insights of individuals of all backgrounds and encourage all generations to revisit their own perceptions of reality,” said Susan Scott, founder and CEO of Fierce.

“In every conversation we enter, we bring along our own opinions, beliefs and attitudes. Instead of getting curious and learning, people often use conversations as a forum to validate, confirm and reinforce their own previously-held beliefs. Millennials are starting to shift this norm, which in general is a good thing, however, company leaders need to ensure employees across the board can do the same.”

Discrimination in the Workplace

When asked about being personally discriminated against or judged at work based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or political beliefs, gender and political beliefs top the list at 17 percent. Between men and women, nearly twice as many women than men noted they felt they have been discriminated against based on their gender (21% vs. 12% respectively).  

These numbers increase when asked about experiencing others being discriminated against:

•       18% say they have seen others discriminated against based on race
•       20% say they have seen others discriminated against based on political beliefs
•       21% say they have seen others discriminated against based on gender

“We’ve come a long way in terms of inclusion in the workplace, however, it is clear there are still plenty of issues that need to be addressed head on. Implementing diversity programs are critical to every organization, as every employee should have the training on how to have these conversations. For organizations that feel confident this isn’t an issue in their company, chances are it is, and not addressing it and giving individuals the tools to handle these situations will erode relationships and lead to conflict for everyone involved,” said Scott.

Safety at Work

While feeling discriminated against or judged at the office can have a devastating effect on your psyche, it is assumed that when you head into work, your safety won’t be an issue. However, one in five individuals surveyed have felt unsafe at work. For women, that increased to more than a quarter of those surveyed.  

“This is an alarming finding that every employer should take to heart,” Scott continued.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe at work, at all times, with no exceptions. It is imperative that companies encourage conversations around diversity and inclusion early and often, and that there is opportunity for open and honest discussions, be it with coworkers or company leadership, on these topics. Company leaders should take measures to ensure that their employees feel confident that anyone feeling even remotely unsafe has the skills and confidence to have these tough conversations should the situation arise.”

Can we do more?

A third of those surveyed believe their organization could do more to promote inclusion. Nearly every organization can and should be doing more to address this topic.

“Expanding or developing diversity efforts that make inclusion a cultural imperative benefits everyone–from small businesses to Fortune 500 organizations. Ensuring your people understand the importance of inclusion, how to embrace it and how to learn from it will make your place of work more attractive for both new and existing employees, and chances are, it will also increase your bottom line,” Scott said.

About Fierce

Fierce, Inc. is an award-winning leadership development and training company that drives results for businesses by improving workplace communication. Fierce creates authentic, energizing, and rewarding connections with colleagues and customers through skillful conversations that lead to successful outcomes and measurable ROI. Tailored to any organization, Fierce principles and methods translate across the globe, ensure individual and collective success, and develop skills that are practical, easy-to-learn and can be applied immediately. Fierce’s programs have been successfully implemented at blue-chip companies, nonprofits, and educational organizations worldwide, including Ernst & Young, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, CARE, and Crate & Barrel. Fierce has received numerous industry and business accolades. The company has been honored as an Inc. 500|5000 company six times, named to TrainingIndustry.com’s “Companies to Watch” list twice, and has won numerous awards for top companies to work for in the state of Washington. For more information, visit www.fierceinc.com

This is a press release published through HER Magazine. Access our monthly publication in iTunes or Google Play – it’s where we feature powerhouse women you can learn and share exclusive content you won’t find here.

The post New Workplace Study Finds Many Millennial Women Feel Unsafe At Work appeared first on HER Magazine ™.