RBC has once again been named Canada’s most valuable brand by Brand Finance Canada.
The bank took back the number one slot after being knocked off the top of the rankings by TD in 2013. Prior to that, RBC had been the country’s top brand for three consecutive years.
It is now the 16th most lucrative banking brand in the world with a value of just over US$11 billion, while TD sits at $10.8 billion.
Brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance ranks companies based on information from analyst reports, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and other economic factors. It also considers factors like industry awards and sponsorship activity.
This year, the annual list of movers and shakers has been expanded from 50 to 100 brands.
Canada’s banking brands continue to be the biggest success stories, taking five of the top 10 slots. However, Brand Finance believes CIBC, ranked seventh, could be in a challenging position to develop, as future growth is likely going to come from non-Canadian markets which it has spent “many years exiting,” the firm said.
According to Brand Finance, the Canadian insurance sector has finally shown strong signs of recovering from challenges of the past six years. Manulife is leading the charge with a more than 40% increase in brand value.
Desjardins and Circle K also achieved gains in excess of 40%.
Of the top 100, 23 brands are from the mining and energy sectors, one of the highest proportions of any country in the world, Brand Finance noted.
On the down side, troubled telecoms brand BlackBerry suffered a reduction in brand value of $1billion, dropping it from number 46 to 19 last year.
“Even though the company continues to retain high brand positives such as awareness and differentiation with physical keyboards, the brand still has not demonstrated an ability to recover revenues substantially enough in the foreseeable future,” Brand Finance noted.
Edgar Baum, Toronto-based managing director of Brand Finance, expressed concerns about how Canadian brands perform in global markets.
“Our dependence on building brands in mostly regulated markets may explain why Canadian brands have challenges in making a big and sustained impact on the world stage. We continue to have the challenge in building truly global brands from Canada,” he said, singling out Barrick Gold, the largest gold mining company in the world.
The firm suffered the largest loss of brand value as a result of its organizational challenges, dropping by 72% from $1.4 billion to $405 million, and from 38 to 92 in the rankings.
“Barrick Gold has now been added to the list of companies that have had a challenge managing their brand after it exceeded $1 billion in value,” Baum said.
He also zeroed in on the popular clothing brand Lululemon, which was down 9% from last year.
“Lululemon seems to be on the verge of being in a similar position. Its challenges over the past year are a testament to how critical it is for management to understand the table stakes for their brand and who leads the positive–or negative–conversation about the brand in the marketplace,” he said.
Baum highlighted Quebec brands Alimentation Couche-Tard, Saputo and CGI as ones to watch in the coming years as they “grapple with managing and building $1 billion brands.”
Here are the top 10 brands on this year’s list:
- Royal Bank of Canada 11,060
- TD Bank 10,855
- Scotiabank 7,717
- Bank of Montreal 7,114
- Bell 7,081
- CIBC 5,028
- Rogers 4,787
- Telus 4,290
- Enbridge 4,093
- Bombardier 4,090
