The Ferrari F8 Tributo. Image credit: Ferrari
Italian sports car maker Ferrari retained pole position as the world’s strongest brand for the second year in a row, according to Brand Finance. The brand scored 94.1 out of 100 and elite AAA+ rating in Brand Finance’s Brand Strength Index, beating out 500 leading brands worldwide. “The embodiment of luxury, Ferrari continues to be admired and desired around the world, and its outstanding brand strength reflects this,” said David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance, London. “It is no wonder that many consumers, who might never own a Ferrari car, want a bag or a watch emblazoned with the Prancing Horse, but it is also crucial that the company management remain at the steering wheel of the brand’s future and maintain its exclusive positioning by monitoring the licensing output closely,” he said. Race to the top Brand Finance gauges the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity and business performance. Based on these criteria, Ferrari was the strongest of only 12 brands in the Brand Finance Global 500 2020 ranking to have won the highest AAA+ rating. Brand strength is a crucial driver of brand value along with revenue forecasts. As Ferrari’s brand strength maintained its rating, its brand value grew, improving 9 percent to $9.1 billion, per Brand Finance. Ferrari last year named five new models, including the SF90 Stradale and Ferrari Roma, both aimed at new market segments. The automaker also inked a manufacturing deal with the Giorgio Armani Group to help push Ferrari collections. Overall, Amazon made history as first brand to exceed $200 billion in value, retaining Brand Finance’s title of the world’s most valuable brand for the third consecutive year. Luxury among world’s 500 most valuable brands In terms of luxury brands among the world’s 500 most valuable brands, the usual suspects made the cut: Mercedes-Benz 11 in 2020, up from 13 last year BMW 30, down from 29 Porsche 41, up from 47 Gucci 99, up from 118 Louis Vuitton 110, up from 127 Cartier 123, up from 126 Chanel 136, up from 152 Hermès 154, up from 165 L’Oréal 157, up from 178 Sephora 170, up from 195 Lexus 200, down from 190 Ferrari 206, up from 220 Land Rover 259, down from 202 Estée Lauder 331, up from 413 Tiffany & Co. 343, up from 350 Guerlain 366, up from 404 Burberry 421, up from 433 Ralph Lauren 479, down from 469 Nordstrom 488, down from 439 World’s second-best brand guardian and world’s second-most reputable CEO Bernard Arnault, boss of LVMH, made the cut as the world’s second-best brand guardian and second-most reputable CEO. Mr. Arnault’s scored 72.1, up from 68.4 and one spot up. He narrowly missed the No. 1 ranking, being just 0.1 below the top spot given to Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin, who scored 72.2 and was new to the list.
Bernard Arnault is Luxury Daily's 2019 Luxury Personality of the Year. Image credit: LVMH