Tripling in brand value over the past year, TikTok is the world’s fastest-growing brand. With an astounding 215% growth, the entertainment app’s brand value has increased from US$18.7 billion in 2021 to US$59.0 billion this year. Claiming 18th spot among the world’s top 500 most valuable brands, it is the highest new entrant to the Brand Finance Global 500 2022 ranking.
With COVID-19 restrictions still in effect across the globe throughout 2021, digital entertainment, social media, and streaming services saw continued growth, and TikTok’s rise is testament to how media consumption is changing. With its offering of easily digestible and entertaining content, the app’s popularity spread across the globe, however, it also acted as a creative outlet and provided a way for people to connect during lockdown.
At the same time, strategic partnerships, such as its sponsorship of the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, exposed TikTok to demographics outside of its original Gen Z base. It crossed the one billion user mark in 2021 and became the most downloaded app across Android’s Google Play store and Apple’s App Store.
Overall, media brands account for the top 3 fastest-growing brands in the ranking – with another social media app Snapchat (brand value up 184% to US$6.6 billion) and South Korean internet brand Kakao (brand value up 161% to US$4.7 billion) following closely behind TikTok. Snapchat saw increased daily usage and revenues grow by 77% in the first 9 months of 2021, with the popularity of its short-form video feature, Spotlight, being a key driver.
Other notable performers from the media sector include those that offer streaming services, with Disney (brand value up 11% to US$57.0 billion), Netflix (brand value up 18% US$29.4 billion), YouTube (brand value up 38% to US$23.9 billion), and Spotify (brand value up 13% to US$6.3 billion) all seeing increases.
In stark contrast, traditional media brands have seen a continued decline, with people favouring social media platforms and on-demand streaming in their place. Warner Bros is among the fastest-falling brands in the ranking this year (brand value down 33% to US$6.8 billion), and this trend is even more apparent when comparing this year with pre-pandemic valuations. Looking at brand value change over the last two years of COVID-19, three media brands feature among the five fastest-falling brands – Warner Bros saw the biggest brand value loss at 40%, with NBC (brand value US$9.4 billion) and CBS (brand value US$7.4 billion) seeing losses of 38% and 36% respectively.
