Customer Experience Emerges as Critical Factor, Along with Innovation, Boosting Brands in the 2019 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable US Brands Ranking

NEW YORK, November 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

- Apple jumps into the number one spot as the Most Valuable US brand, with a brand worth of $316 billion on the strength of devices combined with services 

- Netflix fastest riser with brand value increase of 93% to $30.2 billion 

Brands that are perceived as innovative and that also provide a great experience - meeting consumers' needs where and when they are wanted - grew the most in value in the latest BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable US Brands ranking, announced today by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown.

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The ground-breaking BrandZ study ranks the most valuable US brands, analyzes their strengths, and identifies the key forces driving growth in this dynamic and complex market. It is the second edition of an annual report that tracks and anticipates the evolving environment for brands in the US and charts their changing fortunes.

According to the report, customer experience is as important as being perceived as innovative for increasing brand value. As Americans engage with brands in more and more places, the brands that continually innovate customer experience are winning, growing 200% more than those that don't.

The new number one, Apple, increased its brand value by 13% in the last year to $316.1 billion to become the most valuable US brand. Its continued innovation across an entire ecosystem of services - such as Apple Pay, iCloud and Siri - that wrap around its key devices including the new Apple Watch and iPhone X, ensures that Apple increasingly owns and transforms the user experience in a way that is very meaningful to consumers.

Netflix grew its value more than any other brand, increasing by 93% over the last year to $30.2 billion. Benefiting from the growing adoption of streaming entertainment worldwide, the streaming superpower has capitalized on personalizing its service with original and entertaining content and has grown its subscriber base to 137 million, propelling it to no.28 in the ranking and the second most valuable entertainment brand behind Disney. Other fastest risers are PayPal (up 88%, no.19) and Amazon (up 69%, no.3).