The challenge for larger, more established brands like Microsoft is to stay relevant and continually innovate.
Graham Staplehurst, Director of Thought Leadership, Kantar BrandZ
Citing Microsoft’s strong pricing power and ability to consistently deliver superior cloud, software and hardware products, Traci Smith, vice president and customer partner for North America insights at Kantar, said its leading role in the adoption and integration of AI within its tools is an important contributor to the strength of its brand value.
And already, Microsoft has turned to advertising to publicize its AI proposition and the role it can play in people’s lives.
Long-time agency partner McCann’s ‘Make Your Holiday a Masterpiece’ campaign features a series of films with transmedia artist Ellie Pritts that aim to show people how they can use AI to amplify their holiday creativity and make their memories new.
The battle for brand dominance
Other rankings highlight Microsoft’s rise. It returned to the top three most valuable brands in the world after a three-year absence on Kantar’s annual BrandZ list in August, with a valuation of $502 billion. However, it was still behind the most prolific ad campaign producers Apple, with a valuation of $880 billion., and Google with $578 billion.
This ranking was released ahead of Microsoft’s latest financial results in October, which generated revenue of $56.5 billion (+13%) for the period. The company will announce its results later this month.
According to another brand valuation ranking, Interbrand’s Best Global Brands for 2023 report, Microsoft was the second most valuable brand, growing 14% to $317.7 billion, but behind Apple, which ranks first place with a valuation of more than 500 billion dollars.
Similarly, consultancy Brand Finance placed Microsoft second behind Apple in its annual Brand Value rankings, released this month. Microsoft saw a 78% increase in value to $340.4 billion, again eclipsed by Apple’s valuation of $516.6 billion (+74%).
