BV4 and HWZ Present Ranking of the Strongest Social Network Brands

Actual social media trends had a positive influence on the strength and value development of the analyzed brands, fueling a growth of 59% compared to the top 30 brands in 2012: on one hand, the most successful social media brands such as Facebook and Twitter were able to further develop their dominance with regard to their financial brand values. On the other hand, Chinese social media brands expanded their strength and value thanks to the impressive Chinese Internet usage statistics that are characterized by a rapidly increasing number of Internet users and an intensive daily use of social media networks. Furthermore, the new brand arrivals Instagram ($ 2.101 bn, position 22) and Pinterest ($ 1.987 bn, position 24) clearly benefitted from users’ augmenting need to share pictures among their digital peers. Finally, the trend of increasingly using mobile devices rather than PCs to access social media platforms is an additional factor that positively influenced the strength and value development of the most valuable social media brands in 2013.

The four most valuable brands in 2012 were able to defend their leading positions and increase their brand values: Facebook takes the top of the current ranking with an estimated brand value of $ 34.320 bn, followed by YouTube with a brand value of $ 26.824 bn, and Twitter with $ 23.656 bn. Less well known in the Western world is the Chinese network Qzone which, with a brand value of $ 16.336 bn, is in fourth position. Top winner of this year’s ranking is Google+, which gained 14 ranks ($ 5.878 bn). Together, the thirty most valuable brands have a monetary value of nearly $ 200 bn.

The detailed report“The Most Valuable Social Media Brands 2013” can be obtained free of charge at www.bv4.ch.

As an independent certified brand valuation company, BV4 calculates the financial value of brands and other intangible assets using both scientifically founded and standardized methods. BV4 also develops sector and client-specific brand management models. Thereby, BV4 combines the expertise and knowledge of finance specialists as well as brand experts and marketing professionals.