Best Global Brands: the most valuable brands in 2025

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2025/12-2026.01

Accelerating realignment in the global brand competition

The total value of the 2025 Best Global Brands ranking reached USD 3.6tn, which was a 4.4% increase over the previous year. Apple retained its top spot with a value of USD 470.9bn, followed by Microsoft (+10%), Amazon (+7%) and Google (+9%). NVIDIA realised the biggest jump in the history of the report, with a 116% growth, moving up to the 15th place. Two iconic brands from the FMCG sector continue to feature in the top 10: Coca-Cola ranks 7th with brand equity of USD 60.1bn (-2%), while McDonald’s has retained its position in the 9th place with USD 53bn. The strength of both brands lies in their deeply embedded cultural presence in the lives of consumers – here the choice isn’t based on price or product, but on emotional preference.

Decisive role for brands: are they irreplaceable or they can be substituted?

Alongside the classic FMCG brands, LEGO deserves a special mention: its brand equity grew by 19%, placing it in the 50th position in the ranking – one of the biggest jumps in the sector this year. LEGO now operates as an experience platform, appearing simultaneously as a physical product, a component of digital worlds and a community brand. This is an ideal fit for the multi-arena strategy emphasised by Interbrand: brand equity grows the best when it builds human roles rather than categories. According to Interbrand’s 2025 report, global brands are experiencing unprecedented fluctuations in value, as geopolitical and economic uncertainty, combined with changing consumer expectations, are shaping the ranking.

Brand Strength – the survival code for the next 25 years

Interbrand claims brand strength will be determined by three factors in the coming years: 1. Direction – a clear direction: the strongest brands organise their activities around a single dominant goal, defining roles in people’s lives, not products. 2. Coherence – a consistent experience at every touchpoint: today brands are perceived as experiences and these experiences can’t be fragmented. 3. Trust – trust as a force for conversion: the report clearly demonstrates the economic value of trust: a one percentage point rise in RBI results in an average 2.3% increase in a brand’s share price. Brands with a stable vision, consistent experience and strong consumer trust won’t just remain in the ranking, but will also set the direction. The report concludes: as consumer decisions are increasingly supported by algorithms, only those brands that build cultural, identity or experience-based connections can remain strong. Strong brands don’t serve demand, but shape it.