Interbrand has published its Best Global Brands list, amid warnings that AI is upending the sector.
The 2025 list ranks 100 companies based on “the financial performance of the branded products or services, the role the brand plays in purchase decisions, and the brand’s competitive strength.”
This year’s top five are the same as last year’s, and in the same order, with Apple leading the way, followed by Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Samsung.
But below that, there was a sense of change, with 12 new entrants, the highest number since the index began in 2000. These include BlackRock financial services, UNIQLO, Monster and Shopify.
“This year’s ranking reflects how brand leaders are moving quickly to adapt to competitive challenges and shifting market dynamics to position their brands for growth,” Interbrand CEO Gonzalo Brujó wrote. “These shifting realities have led to a radical shift in the shape and make up of our global ranking.”
Big winners while others struggle
Computer chip manufacturer Nvidia recorded the highest year-on-year increase in brand valuation ever recorded, up 116% and shooting from 36th in last year’s list to 15th.
Compared to last year, YouTube (13) was up a huge 61%, Netflix (28) rose 42%, Uber (64) was up 38%, and Nintendo (53) jumped 35%.
“To the two traditional ways by which people have known the world, faith and reason, AI adds a third one.”
Another big mover was Instagram, which moved into the top ten, after a 27% increase in brand valuation that took it from 15th to 8th.
It reflects a positive verdict on Instagram’s parent company Meta, with Facebook (19) up 18%, and WhatsApp named on the Brands to Watch list, made up of companies with, “strong potential to enter our Best Global Brands ranking in future years.”
“Brands that are innovating across industries and entering new arenas, building cultural relevance, and investing in long-term brand strategy are outperforming even the outperformers,” the report states.
Nike, whose recent struggles have made it an oft-used example of a brand losing its way, tumbled out the top 20, dropping 26% and from 14th to 23rd spot.
Tesla dropped 35%, from 12th to 25th place, perhaps linked to founder Elon Musk’s controversial role on the US political stage. There were also big falls for Intel (71) down 42%, Gucci (69) down 35%, and Nissan (82) down 33%.
AI changes the game
Unsurprisingly, AI looms large over this year’s ranking. “Digitally enabled services and the rise of AI are establishing new winners faster than ever,” the report explains.
It quotes from The Age of AI, a book authored by statesman Henry Kissinger, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and computer scientist Daniel Huttenlocher, which states, “To the two traditional ways by which people have known the world, faith and reason, AI adds a third one.”
Interestingly despite the scale of disruption caused by AI, the report suggests that its rise “doesn’t necessarily create new challenges for brand leaders, but it accelerates and exacerbates the existing ones – exponentially.”
The report predicts the “collapse of the consumer journey” where customers will “inevitably delegate some purchase decisions to agents.”
“AI is already changing our exploration and understanding of reality – and, therefore, our choices,” the authors write.
“While brands do not face an imminent risk of extinction, they do face the prospect of accelerated selection. There will still be many names, logos and labels out there – but in time, fewer will be truly capable of influencing human choice.”
This will create a two-tier brand world, where brands that impact the “choices we care more deeply about” will continue to play a “meaningful role,” while others will fall out of consideration.
“The dividing line that will emerge will sit between what we see as disposable – and what we deem indispensable,” the report suggests.
“Brands that are relegated to the disposable will exist in a context predicated on product, price, and algorithmic optimisation, with little control over competitive barriers or stability of demand.
“Conversely, those brands that are powerful meaning systems will unlock extraordinary competitive advantages. The companies that win are those that will address our faith and reason – and create profound relationships with their customers that are immune to the influence of agents.”
In praise of focus
Alongside AI adoption and an ability to maintain a sense of meaning, the report also praised those companies which are “ uncompromisingly singular about the unmet human needs they address.”
Brands like Uniqlo, Shopify and Booking.com, “are not constrained by categories or touchpoints but take their experiences to places and arenas where those unmet needs can create value. They make moves that continuously reaffirm their place in their customers’ lives.
“In this new age, singularity of focus applied to a plurality of arenas is what unlocks extraordinary value, as shown by the performance of multi-arena brands.”
Among the companies dropping out of the list from last year were KFC, Heineken, Ford and Lloyds Bank, which was one of the 2024 list’s biggest risers.
The 12 new entrants in this year’s list were:
BlackRock (31)
Booking.com (32)
Qualcomm (39)
GE Aerospace (44)
Uniqlo (47)
Dell (51)
Schneider Electric (65)
Monster (70)
Nasdaq (85)
John Deere (88)
BYD (90)
Shopify (99)