Brand value of world’s most valuable brands grows 29% year-on-year
The top 100 most valuable brands across the world grew their brand value by 29% in the last 12 months to reach $10.7trn (£8trn), according to Kantar’s annual BrandZ ranking.
This is the second consecutive year of growth for the world’s top brands after a swift recovery last year, when brand value increased by 20% following a 20% drop in 2023.
The ranking combines financial analysis with measures of brand equity.
Out of the top 10 brands, nine are technology firms in some shape or form. McDonald’s, which dropped three places to eighth in the rankings, is the sole non-tech brand left in the top 10.
Apple retained its position for the fourth year running as the top brand, with a brand value of $1.3trn, up 28%.
Elsewhere on the list, the impact of generative AI is clear, with Nvidia coming in fifth, and ChatGPT making the list for the first time.
Source: Kantar BrandZ
Advertising supports 5% of all UK employment, data suggests
The advertising industry is behind 5% of all UK employment, representing 1.7 million jobs across the UK, according to Credos’ Advertising Pays 2025 report.
Looking at the location of roles, since 2017 there has been some change in the advertising and marketing workforce. London has declined by three percentage points to roughly 40%, while the proportion of advertising and marketing professionals in the North West increased from 8% in 2018 to 12% last year.
In terms of advertising’s impact on business growth, 3.5 million businesses spent an estimated £66.6bn on advertising last year. Overall, £17.9bn worth of UK advertising services were exported in 2024, second only to the US.
Split by channel, this represents £43.6bn on media, £7.4bn on agencies and production and £16.6bn on marketing professionals.
The research also found, on average, each £1 spent on advertising generates a ROI of £4.11 for medium to large businesses, and £1.89 for micro and small businesses.
Source: Credos and Advertising Association
Just 34% of teams are using CRM to its potential, research suggests
While the majority (70%) of businesses believe their customer relationship management (CRM) system fits their needs, just 34% of teams are effectively using it.
The perceived effectiveness of CRM is split by seniority, according to a report from Insightly. More than half (55%) of executives believe their CRM is being used effectively, compared with around a quarter (27%) of non-executives.
Cost of functionality (32%), prioritising features over usability (40%) and a rushed selection process (38%) are reasons given for the perceived lack of effectiveness.
Elsewhere in the survey, almost half (48%) cited that aligning sales, marketing and customer success is key to hitting revenue growth this year. However, sales teams are the least likely to have full visibility of the customer journey (27%) compared with marketing (46%).
This issue is cited by 30% as a barrier to sales efficiency.
Source: Insightly
Majority of business leaders believe government should regulate AI to prevent small firms from collapsing
The growth of AI is causing concern to some business leaders. A survey of 250 C-suite leaders from enterprise and mid-market firms, with revenue between £200m and £2bn, found that 68% think the government should regulate the ‘AI divide’ to help stop smaller firms from going under.
The majority (57%) feel businesses are using AI as a weapon to “crush” smaller competitors, according to research from AND Digital.
Meanwhile, more than half (53%) of businesses reported losing millions in revenue due to poor customer experience levels. A further 56% believe inadequate loyalty programmes have cost them customers too.
Overall, two thirds (67%) believe that without significant improvements to customer experience, their organisation will lose customers within the next year. The majority (71%) say data is the biggest factor in delivering good customer experience.
Source: AND Digital
Just 4% of Gen Z and 7% of millennials’ career goal is to reach senior leadership
Financial independence is the top career goal for Gen Z (21%) followed by work-life balance (18%), according to Deloitte’s annual Gen Z and Millennial Survey, which gathered insights from 23,000 respondents worldwide, including 814 from the UK.
For their millennial counterparts, 20% cite work-life balance as the top career ambition, followed by financial independence (18%).
Just 4% of Gen Z, and 7% of millennials, say reaching senior leadership positions is their primary career objective.
Meanwhile, almost half (49%) of Gen Z and 43% of millennials in the UK say they feel stressed or anxious all or most of the time, up from 47% and 41% respectively last year.
Concerns about day-to-day finances were the main source of stress for 40% of Gen Z and 38% of millennials who feel anxious or stressed.
For UK Gen Zs (88%) and millennials (92%), a sense of purpose is important for job satisfaction and wellbeing, and 52% of Gen Zs and 50% of millennials have left a job for the lack of purpose.
Source: Deloitte
