- Most valuable European telecommunications brand
- Most valuable German brand in the world after BMW
Deutsche Telekom has once again reached new heights in brand leadership. According to the Brand Finance Global 500 ranking published today, the telecommunications company has recorded the highest brand value in its history, at USD 31.1 billion. This compelling result makes the company the most valuable telecommunications brand in Europe and the most valuable German brand in the world after BMW.
Every year, Brand Finance determines which brands are the most valuable in the world. According to this UK institution, Deutsche Telekom's top place is mainly thanks to the Bonn company's successful relaunch of its umbrella brand and sustainable investments in Europe in its brand identity, as well as in innovation, network quality and customer service. This now feeds into the brand valuation.
For Deutsche Telekom's Head of Branding, Hans-Christian Schwingen, this result underlines once again "the fact that we are on the right path with our brand strategy and are making a sustainable contribution to the company's success. We are on an equal footing with the automotive industry. A great success from a brand perspective, all the more so since 2014 was such a successful year for German car manufacturers."
The Deutsche Telekom brand is the most valuable German brand in the world after BMW. They are followed in third and fourth places by Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz. In a country like Germany, with its strong motoring heritage, the fact that a telecommunications brand is on a level footing with the automotive manufacturers is further evidence of the growing importance of the telecommunications sector and is in keeping with the global trend, say the experts at Brand Finance. Apple remains uncontested as the most valuable brand across the globe, followed by technology giants Samsung, Google and Microsoft.
Explanations of the methodology
Brand Finance Global 500 compiles a ranking of the most valuable brands in the world by brand value. This value is measured in U.S. dollars, the valuation date is January 1, 2015. The brand values are calculated on the basis of the question of what license fees a company would have to pay if it did not own the brand. This method is also referred to as the license price analogy method. In addition to the brand value, each of the 500 brands is allocated a brand rating: modeled on the credit rating, this value represents a benchmark of the strengths, risks and potentials of a brand, compared to the brands of its competitors.
More information on the Brand Finance Global 500 study is available on the website http://www.brandfinance.com.
Press photos for copyright-free use citing Deutsche Telekom as source. To download, click on the relevant photo:
Caption 1: Successful brand identity: Deutsche Telekom at CeBIT 2014.
Caption 2: Rebranding in Romania Deutsche Telekom further expanded its brand presence in Europe in 2014 with Telekom Romania.
About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies with over 142 million mobile customers, 31 million fixed-network lines and more than 17 million broadband lines (as of December 31, 2013). The Group provides fixed-network, mobile communications, Internet and IPTV products and services for consumers and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in around 50 countries and has approximately 229,000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of EUR 60.1 billion in the 2013 financial year – more than half of it outside Germany.