UK brands are being urged to put their manners to one side and keep rocking the boat again and again, with short-term marketing tactics and gaps in brand building costing them up to $10bn in value.
That is according to Kantar’s BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable UK Brands report, which reveals that, globally, a brand’s “X-Factor” contributes 33% of the total value of a company but in the UK, this figure drops to 29%.
Kantar BrandZ analysis reveals that, while UK brands are good at meeting consumer needs and are generally well known, they often struggle to differentiate themselves from the competition, which is putting a ceiling on their growth.
Kantar Insights UK & Ireland head of brand activation Jodie Gillary explained: “We know strong brands perform better, are more resilient and grow faster in the long run. And this isn’t just theory – our data shows that brand perceptions really can move the needle commercially.
“It’s a tough time for the industry and, with pressure on margins right now, marketers are being pushed to do more with less. But the reality is that almost half of the UK’s most valuable brands (45%) aren’t seen positively enough to justify charging a higher-than-average price for their category, so it’s never been more important for businesses to grasp the financial imperative of investing in considered brand building.”
Gillary maintains that a continued focus on disruption is crucial to standing out from the competition.
She added: “British brands are at risk of being too polite to be bold. They can and should be braver. Disruption within a category has been responsible for 71% of incremental brand value growth for the top 100 brands globally since 2006. That’s $6.6 trillion in additional value. But our data shows that UK disruptor brands are down 19% in value since 2019.
“It’s not that British brands don’t have it in them to be disruptive – there are some fantastic examples of businesses which have broken the mould. It’s that when they do shake things up, they tend to only do it once, and that’s not enough. This is the marketing paradox; brands need to put their manners to one side and keep rocking the boat again and again – and always in a way that’s both distinct to the brand and in step with society’s changing culture.”
HSBC, with a brand value of $21.6bn, up 14% year on year, is the UK’s most valuable brand for the first time ever, pushing Vodafone ($18.5bn) into second place. Financial services brands made up 9 of the top 10 fastest growing UK brands this year. By contrast, the lead category in France is luxury, with business tech taking the top spot in Germany and apparel in Spain.
The strong performance of Britain’s financial services brands contributed to the UK top 75, reversing last year’s decline to grow by 8% overall in 2025. However, this still lags global counterparts whose values rose by an average 29%. At a national level, European markets are outpacing the UK with the leading brands in countries including the Netherlands and Spain recording double-digit growth.
Outside of the financial services sector, British Airways was another high performer in the UK ranking, climbing 11 places to number 55. Dettol entered the ranking for the first time, shooting to the top half of the most valuable brands at number 34.
Analysis from Kantar and the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School finds that companies which have particularly strong brand equity deliver abnormally high share price returns, and have greater resilience to crisis and uncertainty.
Gillary explained: “When the economy is struggling, businesses clearly have to do more to convince people that their products and services are worth spending on.
“The brands which manage to do that and grow fastest over the long term aren’t necessarily the biggest or the cheapest – they’re the ones which set themselves apart from competitors and in a way that chimes with what consumers want and need. That will look different for every brand, whether it’s through product innovation, for example, branching into new categories, or standout digital experience. The key is never to stand still – to consistently shake things up while staying absolutely true to the brand.”
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