- Kantar BrandZ Top 40 Most Valuable Australian Brands top US$125bn in brand value
- Banks (37%) and Retail (24%) are the dominant categories in the Top 40
- Australians are rewarding brands that are meaningful and relevant
Design platform Canva is now the country’s second most valuable brand, behind the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, according to the Kantar BrandZ Top 40 Most Valuable Brands 2023 ranking.
Canva is worth around A$24 billion (US$16.01bn) behind CBA’s US$21.6 billion brand valuation, but is still privately owned, and just a decade old – 100 years less than Australia’s biggest bank.
The only other tech scale-up to make its presence felt in the top 40 is buy now pay later fintech Afterpay, at 20 with a brand value of $1.2 billion. It’s also the youngest brand to feature, just behind the nation’s oldest brand Australia Post (No.19; US$1.4bn) founded in 1809.
Kantar Australia head of brand strategy Ryan France said that while Canva is a relative newcomer to the “brandscape”, it’s a local success story that has become something of a global phenomenon.
Their analysis shows that brands that start by focusing on a compelling point of difference – being unique to competitors and/or setting trends – create value by becoming meaningful, that is, meeting needs in relevant ways and/or building affinity, as well as salient – coming easily to mind – making them strong and successful brands.
“Canva continues to focus on the product, but also on communicating what makes it different and establishing relevance to a wider audience,” France said.
“Canva has been working on exactly that, growing salience by showing how it can be used by consumers with a broad range of needs. Not just a tool for making presentations, it’s been showing how it can help with an ever-wider range of tasks, from advertising a home for sale to throwing a baby shower.
“The brand Canva can probably learn best from, though, is Canva! In Brazil, the brand has already grown its meaningful salience and is fast closing in on the market leader as a result.”
Last week Canva held a show-biz style event in Sydney in front of thousands of users to reveal its latest product developments, including the addition of AI to the platform to help users with designs.
As a brand, the value in the scale-up, compared to some of the biggest and most well-known companies in Australia is astonishing, with Kantar estimating the tech company’s brand is worth US$4.5 billion (A$6.6bn) more than Woolworths, and US$6.1bn (A$9.2bn) than the nation’s leading telco, Telstra.
The combined value of all 40 companies is US$125 billion, with banks worth the most, with a combined value of US$45 billion, followed by retailers worth a total $30 billion, and business services and technology the third biggest at US$16.01 billion – and that’s all Canva.
In the 2023 edition of Most Valuable Australian Brands spans 13 categories, which Ryan France said reflects the diversity of the economy.
The 10 retail brands in the Top 40 are worth more US$30 billion in brand value. Woolies’ chief rival, Coles is at No.6, worth US$7.2bn and Bunnings at No.9, worth US$4.6bn, then BWS at No.12 with US$2.4bn.
Making a difference
Ryan France says that this year’s rankings show that any brand, old or new, can increase its value by understanding what makes it different, as well as meaningful and easy to recall.
“At the heart of a brand’s value is its ability to appeal to both existing and new customers, and CommBank, with its long history and ability to adapt to changing market conditions, does this with ease, along with other enduring brands like Coles, Bundaberg Rum and Qantas,” he said
“Current economic challenges, however, along with growing concerns about sustainability and the environment, have the potential to change the way Australians buy and consume products and services.
“Our expectations of brands are evolving, we want them to work, but brands that can also signal how they make life better – for people, for the community, for the planet – will find themselves on a firmer footing with investors, employees, and consumers. The is not just wishful thinking, the data is showing us that sustainability credentials can drive a meaningful difference, and that drives choice.”
Marketing also helps.
‘The beer for up here’, Great Northern, is ranked at No.39 with a brand value of US$368 million. Most Australians think it’s new, but in 1927, the Cairns brewery will celebrate 100 years in business and is now the best-selling beer brand in the country – and worth more as a brand than the retailer Liquorland at 40.
France said that Kantar’s analysis shows that consumers reward brands that are both meaningful and easily recalled
“When brands achieve meaningful salience, they are well known for something that consumers feel is relevant to their lives,” he said.
“Brands that invest in this area tend to grow their market share as a result.”
Kantar BrandZ Top 10 Most Valuable Australian Brands 2023
Kantar is the world’s leading marketing data and analytics company. You can download the Most Valuable Australian Brands report at kantar.com/campaigns/brandz/australia
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