What's Australia's most valuable brand?

AUSTRALIANS love a good rivalry. So who comes out on top between Coles and Woolworths, Myer and DJs and Qantas and Virgin?

Generic Coles and Woolworths logos

AUSTRALIANS love a rivalry, and in a market dominated by duopolies, we love watching companies trying to get the jump on their competitor.

Every year, brands spends tens of millions of dollars on marketing in a bid to win your love and, more importantly, your dollars.

So, who among Australia’s big brands can claim victory over their adversary?

The latest Australian Brands report from Brand Finance places a monetary value on ‘brand value’. Essentially what this means is that it looks at a brand’s logo, marketing, name, symbols and the like and how this resonates with consumers.

In the supermarket wars, Woolworths not only trumps Coles but it was also awarded the mantle of Australia’s most valuable company with a brand value of $10.96 billion. Despite the cheery news, Woolworth’s brand value declined 10 per cent from last year. The Brand Finance report attributes this decline to Woolies’ disappointing experiment with Masters in the home improvement category, as well as increased competition, especially from Aldi.

Coles dropped two places on the Brand Finance list from fourth to sixth, with a brand value of $7.09 billion.

Which bank?

On the telco front, Telstra was the clear winner against Optus. Telstra came second on the overall list while Optus was in 10th spot. The report said: “Telstra’s prioritisation of customer advocacy is a critical component of maintaining a competitive edge and further increasing its brand strength. If successful, Telstra will be a strong challenger for the number one Australian brand.”

The Big Four banks all made the top 10 list, with Commonwealth Bank leading the way. CBA was third on the overall list, followed closely by ANZ in fourth while Westpac and NAB were seventh and eighth respectively.

Brand Finance Australia managing director Mark Crowe said: “Overall the Australian banks have performed exceptionally well and achieved outstanding results. Increased brand strength will enable the banks to remain very competitive by building loyalty and minimising customer churn.”

BHP and Rio Tinto were the other two brands in the top 10.

In other famous Aussie brand rivalries:

— Qantas (15th) beat Virgin Australia (31st).

— Origin (17th) beat AGL (33rd).

— Big W (27th) beat both Target (35th) and Kmart (43rd).

— Myer (30th) beat David Jones (50th).