Facebook suffers drop in brand value as consumer trust slides
Facebook has suffered a second successive annual decline in its brand value as the social media firm faces a backlash over data use and its faltering move into digital currency.
The Silicon Valley giant has dropped out of the top 10 rankings of the world’s most valuable brands, suffering a decline of almost 12 per cent to $39.9bn (£31.3bn).
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Facebook hit its peak in 2017 with a brand value of $48.2bn, but has now dropped to 14th place, according to Interbrand’s Best Global Brands report.
The figures come as a further blow to the tech giant, which is facing calls for tighter regulation in the UK and the US over its use of data, alleged anti-competitive behaviour in the digital advertising market and failure to crack down on harmful material.
Facebook is also battling to keep its cryptocurrency Libra afloat after a string of high-profile backers pulled out of the project.
It comes as a separate survey, released today, revealed that UK consumers now trust embattled Chinese tech firm Huawei – which faces accusations of spying – more than Facebook.
Only 11 per cent of people said they wanted to stop using Huawei’s products or services, compared to 32 per cent who expressed a desire to ditch Facebook, according to software firm Open-Xchange. Facebook declined to comment.
Despite the torrid results for Facebook, the brand value report showed that tech giants continue to dominate the rankings, as Apple and Google retained first and second place respectively for the seventh consecutive year.
Amazon came in third place with a brand value of $108.8bn, while Samsung also made it into the top 10.
Uber shrugged off concerns about its troubled public listing earlier this year, making its debut in the rankings. Linkedin also entered the hall of fame for the first time this year.
Overall, the combined value of the top 100 brands was $2.1 trillion, an increase of almost six per cent on last year.
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“For decades, the entire discipline of brand-building was based on the concept of brand positioning, but in today’s accelerating markets, customer expectations outstrip static brand positions,” said Charles Trevail, global chief executive of Interbrand.
“Brands can no longer be considered separate to businesses and will be judged on what they do, not just what they say; and about trust, not just delivery.”