Following a big jump in the ratings of the world’s most valued and prestigious brands, HSBC has for the first time, entered the top 30 world brands. This follows a 20 per cent increase over the past year in HSBC’s global brand value which now stands at nearly $10.5 billion. The news was reported in Business Week, which has just issued its annual list of the Top 100 Brands in the World.
Commenting on the increase in HSBC’s brand value, Business Week stated, “HSBC’s three-year-old campaign, entitled “The World’s Local Bank,” is paying dividends as it re-brands international acquisitions.” The annual survey of brand values is conducted for Business Week by Interbrand. To qualify for this prestigious list, each brand must have a value greater than $1 billion, derive about a third of its earnings outside its home country, and have publicly available marketing and financial data.
Business Week uses this methodology because it evaluates brands much the way analysts value other assets, that is on the basis of how much they are likely to earn in the future. The brand’s strength is also assessed to determine the risk profile of those earnings forecasts. Considerations include market leadership, stability, and global reach. That generates a discount rate, which is applied to brand earnings to get a net present value, which comes closest to representing a brand’s true economic worth.
“Over the past years the value of HSBC’s Brand has been increasing as the bank grows and strengthens its operations around the globe. It is thanks to the efforts put in by our employees in all of the 77 countries and territories where the bank currently operates that our bank’s reputation and the value of its brand continues on this upward path. Breaking into the Top 30 is an achievement for everyone at HSBC,” said Shaun Wallis, Chief Executive at HSBC Bank Malta plc.
The brand value is also significant at a local level” said Mr Wallis, “as HSBC’s strong corporate presence in Malta and the high quality of the local brand can act as catalyst for other similar organisations to take a keen interest in Malta and its economy”.