ByteDance debuted at rank five in BrandZ's "Top 50 Brands in China", according to Global Business News. Huawei also ousted Lenovo from the number one spot.
ByteDance debuts at number 5 on BrandZ’s "Top 50 Brands in China", according to Global Business News.
Huawei also ousted Lenovo from the number one spot: the Chinese telecommunications company had a total score of 1,862 while Lenovo ended with 1,698. Alibaba Group and Xiaomi followed closely behind, ranking three and four respectively.
Brands in consumer electronics and mobile gaming accounted for almost half of the total index (34% and 14%) while home appliances and e-commerce contribute 11% and 10% respectively. However, the online quick fashion industry is the fastest growing brand power, according to Global Business News.
This year’s list ranked brands in seven markets: Japan, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, the UK, and the USA and come from twelve categories in which Chinese brands are more active overseas: consumer electronics and home appliances, airlines, automobile, smart devices, mobile games, e-commerce, online fast fashion, electronic payment, oil and gas, and banking and content apps.
Brand power is also known as brand value, according to BrandZ. It represents the tendency for consumers to choose a particular brand. According to the report, brand power consists of three elements: meaningful (meeting functional and emotional needs of consumers), differentiation (different from its competition and leading the trend), and salient (quickly comes to the mind of consumers).
WPP and Kantar, the world’s largest advertising communications group reported that the Chinese brand power index increased by 15% YOY this year.
ByteDance is famously known for Tik Tok, its global short video platform. In July 2018, it reached 500 million global active users, according to Statista which cites its source from ByteDance.
In India, the total download count for Android and iOS combined is 119.3 million. USA and Turkey follow with a total download count of 39.6 million and 28.4 million respectively.
Back in 2018, authorities were expecting ByteDance “to become the most successful globalized Internet company”. In 2019, ByteDance has acquired Mokun Digital Technology company and is planning for global expansion on its work productivity app, Lark.
It’s interesting to note that Baidu from China’s “BAT” is not included in the list. Recently, ByteDance’s valuation exceeded Baidu. According to Reuters, ByteDance is “privately valued at USD 75 billion” while Baidu’s public equity in early December was approximately USD 65 billion. There are already speculations whether ByteDance will take over the “B” in China’s “BAT" or a merger with Baidu.
Huawei recently exceeded USD 100 billion revenue mark in 2018 despite the political strife between the company and the United States and Canada. It cited its success to the launch of its 5G Network and “SoftCoM AI” solutions.
While it’s still arguably embroiled in controversy, it’s still publicity which can either be positive or negative depending on a person’s outlook. However, Huawei is arguably still going strong and will continue to see success as long as it continues enhancing its AI solutions and products. Additionally, Shanghai is expected to be the first city to completely utilize 5G solutions. Therefore, it will be interesting to see Huawei's role in this process.
Other companies included in BrandZ's ranking that is part of our EO 500 list are DJI and JD.com.