Telstra Corporation's (ASX: TLS) brand value has soared seeing it rise up the charts of Australia's top 100 most valuable brands according to Brand Finance, a marketing and consulting company.
While most companies in the list saw small to medium gains in their brand value, Telstra's rose 59%, as the giant telco extends its mobile dominance over Optus and Vodafone.
Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) retained its number one position, with a brand value of $12.1 billion, followed by Telstra in second with a $9.3 billion brand.
Resources giant BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) dropped one place to third, with a brand valued at $7.4 billion.
Coles – owned by Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) – came in at fourth, the same place as in 2013, closely followed by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) with brands valued at $7.1 billion and $6.6 billion respectively.
The other big three banks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) came in at sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
Iron ore miner Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) dropped one place to ninth with a brand value of $5.1 billion, with Optus –owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (ASX: SGT) rounding out the top 10.
According to Brand Finance, brand value is based on the value a company may be willing to pay to licence its brand if it did not own it. It includes estimates of future revenue attributable to a brand.
Foolish takeaway
Savvy readers will note that brand value bears no relation to market value or the relative size of each company's net profit. BHP's market cap is around $190 billion, while Woolworths' is currently $44.9 billion. It's an interesting exercise, and moves within the list may offer some clues to the potential future fortunes of the companies – with both resources stocks, BHP and RIO dropping a place.
