Samsung tops the fastest growing brand values

Kwon Oh-Hyun of Samsung may not yet be a household name outside his native South Korea, but he is this year’s most successful brand building CEO.

Results from the BrandFinance® Global 500 show he has presided over a massive strengthening of the Samsung brand which is now valued at US$58.7 billion. A combination of advertising and marketing investment, coupled with R&D and new products, added US$20bn to the brand in the last year, a 54% increase.

In comparison, Tim Cook of Apple (US$87.3 billion) has presided over a 24% increase in brand value, achieved despite the roller coaster ride the US electronics giant has had within highly competitive global consumer markets.

 

Table 1: Biggest Brand Value Risers With CEOs
Rank	CEO	Brand	Brand Value 2013 (US$ bn)	Brand Value 2012 (US$ bn)	Change (US$ bn)
1	Kwon Oh-Hyun	Samsung	58.7	38.2	20.5
2	Tim Cook	Apple	87.3	70.6	16.7
3	Jeff Bezos	Amazon	36.7	28.6	8.1
4	Peter Voser	Shell	29.7	22.0	7.7
5	Jiang Chaoliang	Agricultural Bank of China	15.9	9.9	6.0
6	Martin Winterkom	Volkswagen	23.6	17.7	5.9
7	Fu Chengyu	Sinopec	13.5	8.1	5.4
8	Li Yue	China Mobile	23.2	17.9	5.3
9	Robert Iger	Walt Disney	20.5	15.3	5.1
10	Larry Page	Google	52.1	47.4	4.6

Source: BrandFinance® Global 500

In contrast, several boardroom titans have presided over significant declines in brand value of over the last 12 months.

Table 2: Biggest Brand Value Fallers With CEOs
Rank	CEO	Brand	Brand Value 2013 (US$ bn)	Brand Value 2012 (US$ bn)	Change (US$ bn)
1	Meg Whitman	HP	16.1	21.7	-5.6
2	Michael Dell	Dell	6.2	11.6	-5.4
3	Stuart Gulliver	HSBC	22.8	27.6	-4.7
4	Mark Parker	Nike	15.0	18.6	-3.6
5	Cesar Alierta	Movistar	11.1	14.4	-3.2
6	Mark Zuckerberg	Facebook	5.6	8.8	-3.2
7	Vittorio Colao	Vodafone	29.0	30.0	-3.0
8	Kazuo Hirai	Sony	9.6	12.4	-2.7
9	Sherilyn McCoy	Avon	5.2	7.9	-2.7
10	Stephen Hemsley	United Health Care	7.6	9.9	-2.3

Source: BrandFinance® Global 500

 

Commenting on the mixed fortunes of some of the world’s most valuable brands, David Haigh, CEO of brand valuation and marketing experts Brand Finance, said:

“It is now widely accepted that the CEO is the ultimate custodian of brand and reputation and they are increasingly focussing on ways of building brand strength and value. Steve Jobs was an expert in this regard, steering Apple to the top of the BrandFinance® Global 500. With his passing, the title of international brandmaster is now very much up for grabs. ”