Seven is Australia’s fastest-growing brand, according to report

January 27, 2022 9:54

Seven has been named Australia’s fastest-growing brand, according to the Brand Finance Australia 100 2022 Ranking, up 78% to AU$564 million in brand value.

The news comes following the acquisition of Prime Media Group by Seven West Media, which was completed at the start of this year. Seven also topped the OzTam data with the largest overall network share of 38.6% for 2021 and broadcasted the Tokyo Olympics last year.

Brand Finance Australia managing director Mark Crowe said: “Seven’s fast growth has been underpinned by appealing and diverse program content, including this year’s Olympics. Outstanding revenue performance has been fuelled by Seven’s leadership across key demographics, that have delivered highly favourable brand perceptions.”

The other fastest-growing brands in Australia in terms of brand value were Lindeman’s (up 75% to $896 million) and Flight Centre (up 68% to $683 million).

Brand Finance Australia defines brand value as the value that would be placed on the brand if it were to be licensed in the open market. As for brand strength, that is calculated based on marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance.

The top ten most valuable Australian brands include both major supermarket chains, Coles and Woolworths, as well as mining companies BHP in third place and Rio Tinto in tenth place.

The most valuable brands according to Business Finance Australia

Woolworths increased its brand value to $13.7 billion, up 9%. Its competitor Coles also experienced a boost, and it increased its brand value by 26% up to $9.9 billion. Officeworks was up 45% to $473 million, while Harvey Norman increased 5% in brand value to $3.7 billion.

For the second consecutive year, the retail sector ranked as the most valuable sector, accounting for 25% of Australia’s total brand value and cumulative brand value of $40.4 billion.

Crowe commented: “The Australian retail sector has moved from strength to strength during the pandemic, overtaking the once-dominating banking industry to become the nation’s most valuable. While leading Australian brands such as Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings, and Officeworks have thrived, the sector will need to continue to innovate and keep up with new trends to continue on this positive trajectory in a post-pandemic society.”

Two of the banks suffered a loss in brand value: Commonwealth Bank was down 2% to $8.9 billion and ANZ was down 3% to $6.2 billion. However, NAB (up 6% to $5.9 billion), Westpac (up 7% to $5.2 billion) and Macquarie (up 34% to $4.7 billion) all increased their brand values.

“As Australian consumers are less inclined to choose the traditional banking industry,” said Crowe, “The big four brands have declined in strength, exacerbated by issues pertaining to misleading consumers over credit insurance. While the traditional banks remain a stalwart of the Australian banking industry in name, their brands will have to work hard on improving reputation to defend the competition from smaller emerging banks and nimble fin tech brands.”

For the strongest brands, the report placed Bunnings in the top spot, with Woolworths, Coles, and Commonwealth Bank appearing in both of the top ten lists.

The report’s top 10 strongest Australian brands

On Bunnings taking the top spot for strongest brand, Crowe commented: “Bunnings’ efforts in responding to residential and trade demand along with aiding the vaccination rollout has not gone unnoticed by consumers, who ranked the retailer particularly highly in terms of quality, innovation, value for money, loyalty and customer service.”

Globally, TikTok was named the world’s fastest growing brand with a 215% growth rate to $18.7 billion.

CEO of Brand Finance David Haigh said: “Media consumption has increased throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but – what is more – the way we consume it has irrevocably changed. In order to compete in this evolving marketplace, media organisations have invested heavily in their brands – from content acquisition through to user experience. TikTok’s meteoric growth is the proof in the pudding – the brand has gone from relative obscurity to internationally renowned in just a few years and shows no signs of slowing down.”

Apple also retained top spot as the world’s most valuable brand, up 35% to $355.1 billion, with Amazon in second (up 38% to $350.3 billion) and Google in third (up 38% to $263.4 billion).

Messaging platform WeChat took the title of world’s strongest brand for the second consecutive year.