Branding Statistics (2026): Awareness, Recognition & Trends

Highlights. Most consumers (88%) only buy brands they trust.

33% of businesses report that brand consistency helps them boost revenue by 20% or more.
Half of shoppers are likely to buy products based on brand recognition (instead of price or other factors).
77% of shoppers are likely to buy from brands they follow on social media.
Among consumers, 55% of first impressions are based on graphic information (i.e. logos).
“Emotional brand storytelling” is a branding technique that can boost conversion rates by up to 96%.

World’s Strongest Brands
Brand	Industry	Brand Index Score*
YouTube	Media	95.3
WeChat	Media	95.1
Microsoft	Internet & Software	94.7
Google	Media	94.6
Lego	Toys	94.2
NVIDIA	Semiconductors	93.9
Wuliangye	Spirits	93.6
Deloitte	Commercial Services	93.3
Michelin	Tires	93.2
Mercadona	Retail	93.1

*Brand Finance ranks brands based on several factors, including brand value, investments, and business performance, among other factors. This Brand Index Score measures the relative strength of a brand in the overall market.

Brand Awareness Statistics

YouTube has a Brand Finance Brand Index Score of 95.3, making it the world’s strongest and most recognizable brand.

24% of brands scoring in the top 25 for brand strength are American brands.
15% of new products consumers purchase are from well-known or popular brands.
59% of global shoppers prefer buying new products from familiar brands.
In developing markets, 68% of people prefer buying new products from familiar brands, compared to 57% in developed markets.
Brand recall is the most important factor influencing brand awareness, accounting for 38.7% of brand lift in emerging media.
93% of companies say video marketing has helped them create brand awareness.
40% of video marketers use brand awareness to measure the success of their content.
Podcast advertisements can help raise brand awareness by 13%.
Sponsored content can improve brand awareness by up to 10%.
81% of B2C marketers say content marketing helps them successfully achieve brand awareness.
The word “genericide” refers to when a brand name loses its distinctive identity because it becomes common for people to use it to refer to any similar product.
45% of consumers consider a product higher quality if it comes from a brand with a positive reputation and history.

Top 10 Most Familiar Brands
Brand	Industry	Intimacy Score*
Disney	Media	68.4
Netflix	Media	67.5
Apple	Technology	63.7
eBay	Retail	63.2
Microsoft	Technology	61.2
YouTube	Media	60.5
Amazon	Retail	60.4
Google	Technology	59.9
Samsung	Technology	59.9
Honda	Automotive	54.9

*The Brand Intimacy Model uses six markers (fulfillment, identity, enhancement, ritual, nostalgia, and indulgence) to measure the intensity of relationships between brands and engaged consumers.

Brand Connection Statistics

Consumers who develop a bond with a company are called “fully-connected” customers and are, on average, 50% more valuable than a highly satisfied customer.

With a Brand Intimacy Score of 68.4, Disney is the top brand consumers emotionally connect to.
Consumers are most connected to tech & telecom companies with an average Brand Intimacy Score of 37.3, 48.6% higher than the average for all industries.
65% of U.S. consumers feel emotionally connected to at least one brand or business.
Consumers who feel an emotional connection with a brand are worth 50% more than highly satisfied customers.
62% of consumers have an emotional connection to the brands they buy from the most.
Americans regard approximately one-third of brands as “go-to” brands that provide superior products with which they have an emotional connection.
The top emotion people feel when connected to a brand is interest at 72%.
91% of consumer connections with brands are positive.
52% of consumers feel a connection to other people who purchase products from the same brands as they do.
Assurance of customer resonance is 31.5% more important for smaller companies than for companies worth more than $100 million.

Bar Graph: Impact of Brand Consistency on Revenue by the % of organizations reporting growth according to Marq

Brand Trust Statistics

68% of consumers were willing to pay more for products from a brand name they trust.

88% of global consumers tend to buy from brands they trust.
82% of U.S. consumers will pay more for products from a brand name they trust.
88% of consumers born between 1997 and 2012 (a.k.a. Generation Z) report that brands’ social media presence increasingly impacts their trust in a brand.
Among all consumers, 78% report that a brand’s social media presence increasingly impacts their trust.
For 32% of consumers, trust is a prerequisite for purchasing from a brand.
62% of consumers will pay more for a nearly identical product from a brand they trust.
53% of customers will recommend a brand they fully trust to others.
63% of consumers feel it’s more important to trust the brands they purchase from.
75% of consumers ages 18 to 34 consider brand trust more important than in the past; 8.7% more so than consumers aged 35 to 54.
Due to a lack of trust in the parent company, 40% of consumers have stopped buying from a brand they love.
71% of U.S. consumers are likely to buy again from brands they trust, compared to only 12% of distrusters.
63% of consumers pay particular attention to branding when purchasing a smartphone, more than any other goods.
53% of shoppers consider brands when purchasing clothing and shoes.
Only 18% of consumers are brand loyal when purchasing toys and baby products, the least of all purchasing categories.
96% of people say that excellent customer service builds their trust in a brand.
64% of consumers report that shared values help build trust with brands.
32% of online shoppers have abandoned a purchase because they did not trust the brand.

Top 10 Global Brands by Value
Brand	Industry	Brand Value (in billions)
Apple	Tech	$607.6
Microsoft	Tech	$565.3
Google	Media	$433.1
Amazon	Retail	$369.9
NVIDIA	Tech	$184.3
TikTok	Media	$153.5
Walmart	Retail	$141.0
Samsung	Tech	$119.2
Facebook	Media	$107.1
State Grid Corporation of China	Utility	$102.4

Brand Values Statistics

36% of consumers prefer buying from brands that prioritize social causes, diversity, and corporate social responsibility initiatives.

27% of consumers will change to a brand whose values align better with theirs.
While 88% of customers expect brands to communicate their values clearly, only 50% think they actually do.
90% of Americans favor brands that prioritize well-being.
52.3% of U.S. consumers choose to buy from brands that support causes they care about.
46% of American consumers consider at least half of brands to be politically motivated; 88% believe at least some brands are political.
According to 55% of consumers, brands need to better advocate for social issues.
Globally, 76% of consumers have punished a brand for doing something they disagreed with, which is 5.3% lower than in the U.S.
62% of consumers prefer to use brands that align with their values.
63% of individuals are more drawn to brands that emphasize making the world a better place.
38% of consumers say that reflecting societal values makes a brand more culturally relevant.
63% of consumers believe they have the power to make a brand change.
39% of consumers believe they can influence brands to use environmentally friendly materials.
46% of consumers think brands should do more to protect the environment.
Environmentally friendly brands drive 10% of new product purchases.

Bar Graph: Types of Branded Content by the % of multi-location brands investing according to BrightLocal

Branded Content Statistics

71% of audiences can recall the brand featured in branded content without prompting.

73% of B2C marketers use content marketing to appeal to customers.
Branded websites are the second-most trusted marketing channel, with 84% of consumers trusting this type of advertising.
Companies are primarily concerned with reaching audiences on crowded digital channels, as 26% of brands agree.
82% of companies believe personalization is one of the most effective ways to connect consumers to their brand.

Pie Chart: Why People Follow Brands on Social Media according to Buzzstream

Brand Loyalty Statistics

71% of consumers have changed brands at least once.

Consumers make 21% of new product purchases from brands they already support.
79% of consumers are more loyal to brands with consistent communication across all company departments.
72% of consumers switch brands primarily to get a better deal or price.
Better quality products from another company cause 55% of consumers to switch brands.
56% of people are more likely to buy from a brand with a customer loyalty program.
55% of consumers would use loyalty programs more often if they could use them across multiple brands.
Big companies have a more difficult time with brand loyalty, with 16.7% of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) of large companies reporting challenges versus 12.8% for small businesses.
55% of consumers remain loyal to brands they fully trust, even when those brands make a mistake or are accused of wrongdoing.
12.1% of online purchases include a brand the person had not bought from before.
In the packaged goods market, consumers say that only 4.3% of their in-store purchases involved a brand they had not bought before.

Bar Graph: Why Consumers Change Brands by the % of consumers who switched brands in the past year according to Salesforce

48% of people would immediately unfollow a brand on social media if it got bad press for poor customer service.

The most common reason people follow brands on social media is simply liking the brand, at 16%.
At 45%, excessive self-promotion is the top reason people unfollow brands on social media.
Shared interests drive 26% of people to follow brands on social media.
Only 4% of people follow brands on social media to give feedback.
Special offers or promotions motivate 15% of consumers to follow brands on social media.
50% of people limit their social media brand following to just one to four brands.
22% of consumers on social media follow more than 10 brands.
Only 3% of social media users do not follow any brand pages.
86% of brands struggle to identify social media influencers who fit their brand’s personality and purpose.
With 38% of people preferring Facebook for following brands, it is the most favored platform for brand interaction.
68% of people prefer brands to post on Facebook once or twice daily, with the remainder preferring more frequent posts.

Bar Graph: Brand Trust Among age groups by % of consumers who value trust in brands more now than in the past according to Edelman

Branded Video Statistics

84% of consumers want to see online videos from brands in 2026, a 1.20% higher rate than in 2025.

64% of marketing videos made by companies are brand-focused.
A branded social video has compelled 64% of consumers to make a purchase.
80% of the target audiences for branded content felt that the brand paired well with the content.

Pie Chart: The Importance of Brand Video Content by % of marketers agreeing according to Vidyard

Brand Purpose Statistics

There are 8 key attributes of a purposeful brand: fair treatment of employees, offering products or services needed by society, ethical business practices, support for social causes, creation of new job opportunities, a diverse and inclusive culture, issue advocacy, and strong values.

94% of consumers say that it’s essential for the companies they interact with to have a strong purpose.
37% of people believe that companies have a clear purpose or positive impact on the world.
When consumers believe in a brand’s purpose, 82% actively support it.
90% of consumers believe in supporting brands with a clear and strong purpose, even if they face public criticism.
78% of U.S. consumers have taken action when they believe in a brand’s purpose.
People are 4x more likely to purchase from a company with a compelling purpose.
A strong brand purpose makes consumers 6x more likely to continue supporting a brand during tough times.
Customers are 4.5x more likely to recommend a brand with a purpose to their friends and family.
Brands with a strong sense of purpose are 4.1x more likely to be trusted by consumers.
61% of shoppers say that it’s essential that a brand’s purpose inspires them.
81% of consumers believe that a company’s CEO, founder, or owner is responsible for driving brand purpose.

Grouped Bar Graph: Effects of Brands Committing to Issues by % of consumers more likely to buy and % of consumers less likely to buy according to Edelman

Brand Consistency Statistics

A brand only takes one-tenth of a second to make a first impression; it takes 5 to 7 impressions for consumers to remember a brand.

68% of organizations say that brand consistency has contributed at least 10% to their revenue growth.
Around 30% of companies have brand guidelines that are widely used and recognized throughout the organization.
23% of companies create only on-brand content, while 47% only create off-brand content a few times annually.
15% of companies have no brand guidelines.
14% of marketers believe creative automation helps maintain brand consistency.
82% of organizations use templates to ensure brand consistency.
In 37% of businesses, only the design and creative team uses brand templates.
16% of companies use templates across all teams for brand consistency.
Only 2% of organizations do not use any templates to manage their brand.
24% of brand content requests take 2 to 3 days to fulfill, while 32% take more than a week.

Pie Chart: Most Costley Elements of Brand Launch by % of CMOs who rank each factor as most expensive according to Lexicon Branding

Brand Logo Statistics

The first thing 34% of consumers notice about a brand is its logo.

Approximately 95% of brands have symmetrical logos.
Consumers perceive companies with asymmetrical logos as 17% more exciting than brands with symmetrical logos.
9.3% of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) believe logo design is the most crucial marketing element when launching a new brand.
12.8% of CMOs of large companies believe logo design is most important, compared to only 5.6% of small companies.

Pie Chart: Brand Features Consumers Notice First including, Logo, Brand name, Product design, Color scheme, & Store or site layout, according to Adobe

Brand Logo Colors

A consistent brand color palette improves brand recognition by up to 80%.

46% of consumers have chosen one brand over another based on its color scheme.
54% of shoppers are more likely to trust a brand that has blue in its branding.
The color black increases brand trust for 44% of consumers; green drives brand trust for 37% of consumers.
33% of shoppers are more likely to remain loyal to brands that use a consistent color palette.
When a brand changes its color scheme, 18% of consumers feel disconnected, and up to 12% will stop buying from it.
Shoppers subconsciously judge a product within 90 seconds of viewing it. 62% to 90% of this assessment is based only on color.
In 1995, Qualitex successfully trademarked its green-gold dry cleaning pads, becoming the first brand to trademark a color shade.
Consumers form an opinion on a business’s products or services based on brand color within seconds.

Most Valuable Brand Statistics

Brand value is the total value of assets, such as names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs that designate a brand.

Apple is the world’s most valuable consumer brand; Microsoft is the most valuable business-to-business (B2B) brand.
U.S. brands account for 53.4% of the world’s brand value.
The Top 5 most valuable brands globally are all American, with a combined brand worth of $2.16 trillion.
Marketing spending accounts for 10% to 35% of a brand’s equity.
Apple’s brand value is $607.6 billion in 2026, up 5.8% from 2025.
12.5% of global brand value is attributed to banking brands, the highest of any industry.
The top retail brand is Walmart, holding 19.9% of the industry’s brand value.
Google’s brand value of $433.1 billion makes it the most valuable media brand.

Most Valuable B2B Brands
Brand	Industry	B2B Brand Value (in billions)
Microsoft	Internet & Software	$292.5
Amazon	Retail	$110.9
NVIDIA	Semiconductors	$97.9
State Grid China	Utilities	$84.0
Oracle	Internet & Software	$57.4
UnitedHealthcare	Healthcare Services	$54.2
ICBC	Banking	$43.5
Aramco	Oil & Gas	$41.7
Accenture	IT Services	$41.5
Deloitte	Commercial Services	$41.1

B2B Branding Statistics

29% of B2B marketing spending in 2024 was allocated to branding, up 70.6% from 2020.

Microsoft is the most valuable B2B brand, with a B2B brand value of $292.5 billion, 63.4% of its total brand value in 2025.
The Top 250 most valuable B2B brands account for $3.34 trillion in brand value.
12% of B2B business value is brand value, a ratio that’s 29.4% lower than B2C brands.
Amazon, the world’s 4th most valuable brand, is the 2nd most valuable B2B brand, with only 31.1% of its brand value coming from B2B services in 2025.
China Construction Bank is the strongest B2B brand with a Brand Strength Index score of 93.7 out of 100.
Seven (7) of the Top 10 most valuable B2B brands are based in the U.S. for a combined B2B brand value of $695.5 billion.
Content marketing helps 87% of B2B companies build brand awareness.
85% of B2B brands say LinkedIn provides the best value among social media platforms.
According to 84% of B2B marketers, LinkedIn is the most effective social media platform.
14% of B2B companies use branded online communities to distribute content.
With 61% of marketers reporting, video content marketing was the top investment area for B2B content in 2024.
84% of B2B marketing event attendees have more favorable opinions about a brand being promoted after the event.
16% of B2B companies invest more money into long-term brand awareness than instant demand generation.

Grouped Bar Graph: Creating a New Brand Name (% of CMOs who consider these factors most important) including companies that are valued $100 million or smaller and those that are valued at more than $100 million according to Lexicon Branding

Brand Naming Statistics

18.7% of CMOs consider naming the most crucial element to success when bringing a new brand to market, the most of any marketing category.

At 19.4% of CMOs reporting, assurance that the new brand name will resonate with customers is the most common difficulty with naming.
The most challenging marketing aspect of introducing a new brand to the market is naming, according to 22.7% of marketers.
16.2% of CMOs believe that a new brand should be distinctive in the category, and another 16.2% find likability to be the most important.
Only 8.1% of CMOs consider it important for a new brand name to be an actual word.
Larger companies consider a name that stands out in its category the most important, with 19.3% of CMOs agreeing.
18.3% of CMOs of smaller companies believe that the most crucial aspect of a new brand name is its likability.
25% of small companies find naming the most essential element for marketing a new brand, compared to only 12.8% of large companies.
Small companies find language and localization 71.2% more challenging when creating a new brand name than large companies.
85% of CMOs predict product and company naming will be more difficult in the next five years.
53.3% of companies use internal brainstorming in their new product or initiative naming process.
84% of CMOs trust their brand name-testing methods.

Bar Graph: Global Trademark Applications in millions from 2014 (5.24) to 2024 (15.2), according to Statista & World Intellectual Property Organization

Brand Launch and Rebranding Statistics

The average rebranding process takes 12 to 18 months.

For most organizations, complete rebranding costs at least $40,000.
Paid advertising typically requires the most significant financial investment for launching a new brand, according to 29.3% of CMOs.
16% of CMOs say positioning is the most expensive aspect of launching a brand, the second-highest category.
Public relations requires the greatest amount of time when bringing a new brand to market, according to 22.7% of CMOs.
25.6% of smaller companies find it difficult to launch new products or services that capture an early market share lead, compared to 19.6% of larger companies.
69% of brands acquired by S&P 100 companies rebrand within the first seven years; 40% do so within the first year.

Global Trademark Applications 2024
Country	Applications (in thousands)	Change 2023 to 2024
China	7,301.9	-1.5%
United States	836.5	-1.5%
Russian Federation	559.4	+2.9%
India	532.9	+7.4%
Brazil	436.3	+10.4%
Germany	432.7	-1.7%
Turkey	400.3	+0.7%
France	362.0	-6.0%
United Kingdom	347.6	-2.4%
Japan	339.2	-3.0%

Brand Trademarks

There are 93.2 million active registered trademarks worldwide as of 2024.

There are 3.6 million trademarks registered by U.S. companies, 3.86% of the world’s total.
Global trademark offices received 15.2 million trademark applications in 2024.
In 2024, U.S. businesses filed 836,457 trademark applications.
There were 0.1% fewer trademark applications in 2024 than in 2023.
45.8% of all trademarks filed in 2024 were through the WIPO office in China.
The U.S. office received 5.2% of the world’s trademark filings.
Trademark applications at the U.S. office decreased by 1.5% between 2023 and 2024.
20.5% of U.S. trademark filings come from research and technology companies, the most of any industry.
Trademarks need to be renewed after the first 5 years, 10 years, and every 10 years thereafter.
Brands can renew trademarks indefinitely but must prove continuous use in commerce.

Bar Graph: Global Strength of Brand Purpose by % of consumers who act when they believe in a brand's purpose according to Zeno Group

Employer Brand Statistics

With 67% of recruiters agreeing, job boards are the most effective channel for growing employer brands.

A strong Talent Brand Index score leads to a 43% reduction in recruitment costs for companies hiring on LinkedIn.
Companies with a strong talent brand grow 20% faster through hiring than other companies.
83% of employers believe their brand significantly affects their ability to hire exceptional talent.
Companies with a high Talent Brand Index score have a 31% higher LinkedIn InMail acceptance rate than those with a weak talent brand.

Bar Graph: Positive Personal Branding (% of employers who have hired after seeking these social media elements) according to CareerBuilder

Personal Branding Statistics

44% of employers have hired a candidate based on positive personal branding content on their social media profiles.

Poor personal branding on social media profiles has caused 54% of employers to reject candidates.
30% of in-house job recruiters value a potential candidate’s online social presence.
Only 70% of recruiters consider previous job experience one of the most important factors when considering a candidate.
78% of recruiters use social media platforms to increase the chance of finding suitable candidates.

These data and insights were compiled by the Capital One Shopping team based on publicly available data.

Branding Statistics