Tech companies dominate the best global brands list - Apple leads the pack

The annual best global brands list of 2021
(Image credit: Interbrand)

Interbrand, which makes the list of top brands in the world every year, has come up with its this year's compilation. And yet again, technology companies dominate the collection with Tesla, ranked 14, making the biggest leap up the table and is the fastest growing brand of the past year with an unprecedented 184% increase in brand value after re-entering the rankings in 2020.

Tech companies ruled the roost in the top 10, with no changes to the top three of Apple, Amazon and Microsoft. The top three brands account for a third (33%) of the total table value this year.

The top 100 brands are now valued at $2.67 billion – up 15% from 2020 – the highest ever growth rate in the 22-year history of Interbrand’s Best Global Brands.

Key learnings from brands

Global best brands of 2021

(Image credit: Interbrand)

Tesla also saw the largest rise in rankings, moving 26 places up the table, closely followed by Salesforce.com (moving up 20 places to 38) and PayPal (moving up 18 places to 42). Despite its seismic growth, Tesla has yet to enter the top ten. Having overtaken Google in 2020, Microsoft has preserved its place in the top three. The top three brands account for a third (33%) of the total table value this year.

The remainder of the top 10 comprises: Google, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, McDonald’s and Disney.

The overall value of the table has increased to $2,667,524 million (up 15% from 2,326,491 million in 2020), which is the biggest growth rate in the past 22 years of Interbrand’s Best Global Brands.

"The average brand value increase in 2021 is 10%, significantly larger than the 1.3% in 2020, owed largely to the economic disruption caused by Covid-19," Interbrand said.

Technology is the fastest growing sector, with an average brand value change of 23% year-on-year. It is also the most valuable sector by average brand value, followed by beverages and sporting goods.

“Direction, Agility and Participation are three key themes we’ve seen driving brand growth over the past year,” said Charles Trevail, Global CEO, Interbrand. “It’s worth calling out Tesla’s growth over the past year – a three-figure increase in brand value is unprecedented in the past 22 years of Best Global Brands. Tesla is a brand that epitomises the importance of brand direction, agility and participation, so I’m unsurprised Tesla made the biggest leap."

Balakumar K
Senior Editor

Over three decades as a journalist covering current affairs, politics, sports and now technology. Former Editor of News Today, writer of humour columns across publications and a hardcore cricket and cinema enthusiast. He writes about technology trends and suggest movies and shows to watch on OTT platforms.