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Netflix — whose name has practically achieved verb status — was the fastest-growing brand from 2018-19 among American companies, according to a new study by Brand Finance, a global brand-valuation consulting firm.
The streamer’s estimated brand value more than doubled over the past year, growing 105%, to $21.2 billion, per the study. Brand Finance calculates values of brands using a “royalty relief” methodology, which involves estimating the likely future revenue that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use.
“Netflix delivers high-quality and varied programming to anyone with internet access and a credit card,” said Alex Haigh, Brand Finance’s valuation director. “The platform has embarked on a disruptive approach to media services and now has incumbents in the market looking over their shoulder.”
Netflix’s strong showing on the Brand Finance report comes amid a shake-up in the streamer’s senior marketing team. Earlier this month, CMO Kelly Bennett said he will be exiting Netflix after more than six years at the company. That was followed by the departure by Stephen Bruno, who led global marketing at Netflix, to become chief marketing officer at MGM.
Of course, Netflix has a ways to go before it cracks into the top 10 of America’s most valuable brands — which is dominated by larger tech companies. Overall, Netflix sits at No. 40 on the 2019 Brand Finance ranking of brand value, up 19 spots from last year.
Amazon again took the crown as the most valuable U.S. brand, growing nearly 25% to $187.9 billion for 2019, according to Brand Finance. The ecommerce behemoth was followed by Apple ($153.6 billion), Google ($142.8 billion), Microsoft ($119.6 billion), and AT&T ($87.0 billion). In sixth place was Facebook at $83.2 billion — with its brand value increasing 8.7% over the past year despite the string of damaging privacy revelations and other scandals it has suffered of late.
Disney scored as the most valuable brand among traditional media companies, taking the No. 10 spot overall. Fresh off acquiring the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox, Disney saw its brand value jump 40%, to $45.7 billion, per Brand Finance.
Meanwhile, Google’s YouTube is a powerful and fast-rising brand in its own right. YouTube’s brand value rose 46%, to $37.8 billion, over the past year to climb to 13th place nationally (up 10 spots).
After Netflix, other companies that saw the biggest brand-value gains from 2018-19 on Brand Finance’s study were Taco Bell (+83.4%), American Express (+81.8%), Hampton Inn (+78.3%), Jacobs Engineering (+77.3%), General Dynamics (+74.9%), Nvidia (+73.3%), Dunkin’ (+73.0%), Pizza Hut (+72.8%) and Discovery (+70.6%).
Meanwhile, professional services firm Deloitte topped Brand Finance’s 2019 Brand Strength Index, with a score of 91.2 out of 100, followed by McDonald’s, Intel, Neutrogena and Coca-Cola. The Brand Strength Index scores are calculated using a weighted group of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance.
