HISTORY OF EXCELLENCE FUELS LEADING GERMAN BRANDS
I am delighted to introduce you to the inaugural WPP BrandZ™ Top 50 Most Valuable German Brands ranking.This pioneering study ranks the country’smost successful brands, analyzes theirstrengths, and identifies the key forcesbehind brand growth in Germany. It isthe first edition of an annual review thatwill track and anticipate the evolvingenvironment for brands in Germany, andwill chart and explain the changing fortunesof the country’s most valuable brands.
We are incredibly excited to be bringingthe BrandZ™ study to Germany. This is thelargest economy in the European Union andthe fourth-largest in the world.
In a world rippling with uncertainty, we havecome to regard Germany as the ballast thatkeeps Europe steady. While the geopoliticallandscape shifts all around it, Germanyjust keeps on going doing what it does best:inventing, exporting, creating jobs andgradually growing. And winning World Cupfinals.
Germany is also home to a long line ofsuccessful and enduring local brands thathave become global household names.
The original Eau de Cologne, 4711, datesback to the 1700s, and many of Germany’sfamous brewers have been using the samerecipes for even longer than that. In thisinaugural Top 50 ranking, we see clearlythe breadth of the German economy and theextent of its people’s expertise, representedby names as varied as ALDI, NIVEA, Beck’s,DHL, Deutsche Bank, Schwarzkopf andadidas.
Germany itself has become synonymouswith the design and engineering of themany automotive brands it has produced;names like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi andPorsche. These are brands that have madeconsumers all over the world willingly paya premium for “Vorsprung durch Technik”,without even knowing quite what it meant.Similarly, Hugo Boss, Siemens and Boschhaven’t just taken great products andservices to the world; they have exportedwhat Germany itself represents.
The strength of the powerful relationshipbetween “Brand Germany” and the brandsof Germany comes under the spotlight in aspecial feature in this report. We draw onexclusive data and analysis from the annual“Best Countries” research done by Y&R’sBAV Group, with US News and the WhartonBusiness School. This data shines a lighton how country of origin affects Germanbrands, and the power of “Brand Germany”in the mind of the modern global consumer.
We also present market wisdom andcutting-edge insights from experts fromWPP companies all over Germany, throughextensive Thought Leadership and BestPractices essays. There are succinct,action-led recommendations for brandsseeking growth in Germany based on ourexpert analysis of the market; see ourCross-Category Trends on page 26, andKey Take Aways on page 32, for our takeon how the market is evolving.
There is detailed analysis of the Top 50ranking: how the most valuable brandsmade it to the top, and the work that mustbe done to build future value both forthose brands in the list, and those thatare yet to achieve the scale required tomake the Top 50. And we offer a thumbnailsketch of each of the BrandZ™ Top 50Most Valuable German Brands, describingboth who they are and how they relate tothis highly sophisticated and increasinglyad-resistant consumer market.
All of this is presented alongside thespecially commissioned photographs ofCecilie Østergren, who has captured theessence of modern Germany in her stunningshots.
Whether you’re a German brand or a globalname, a startup or a sector stalwart, in thisreport you’ll find knowledge and insight tohelp you grow more effectively in Germany –and beyond.
Go to
brandz.com to learn more.