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Johnnie Walker is 5th most valuable UK brand

Johnnie Walker, a first-time entrant into the top five, rose four places and grew its value to $10.9 billion – an increase of 17% on its 2022 level.  

The only other alcohol brands in the top 100 list were Brewdog (61), which saw its value decline by 6% compared to 2022, and Gordon's (52) which was down by 16% on 2022.

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The annual report compiled by Kantar combines rigorously analysed financial data, with extensive brand equity research. To be eligible for inclusion, a brand must originally have been created in the UK and be owned by an enterprise listed on the London Stock Exchange, or a recognised stock exchange.

Adele Jolliffe, head of brand consultants at Kantar Insights UK, said: “What brands like Johnnie Walker, Dove and Burberry do especially well is fundamentally knowing who they are and what they stand for, while adapting to people’s changing behaviours and attitudes.   

“We’ve seen some high-profile rebrands this year like Twitter to X and other businesses might be tempted to try something new as inflation bites, but organisations shouldn’t forget the value of the brand equity they’ve built up. This is absolutely not about standing still, but it is about understanding what consumers like about your brand, and protecting and investing in that.”   

Collectively, the UK’s leading 75 brands are now worth $242 billion, a fall of 14% year on year which is largely in line with the annual global trend which shows a fall of 20%.  

However, in contrast, the most valuable global brands have increased their value by 39% since 2020. For the UK, the figure is just 6%.

With interest rates hitting a 15-year high earlier this year, businesses will be looking to grow revenue and profitability to fund investment in their brands and products. 

Jolliffe continued: “Our data shows that brand – and brand difference in particular – is one of the most powerful tools a business has to justify its pricing. M&S Food is a great example of this. It has one of the strongest pricing power scores in its sector thanks to a consistent focus on shaping its reputation as a retailer with a difference. Ultimately, the future stars of marketing will be the people who really understand this link between pricing and brand building, and who use it to their advantage to drive profitability.”

• BrewDog
• johnnie walker
• Kantar
• M&S Food