Qantas has tumbled to 41st place in an analysis of the strength of Australian brands, due to “reputational issues that generated negative media coverage”, a far cry from when the airline was considered the country’s strongest brand by the same report in 2019.
A Brand Finance report released on Wednesday ranked what it said were Australia’s 100 most valuable and strongest brands in 2024. Bunnings was found to be the strongest brand for a third consecutive year, while Woolworths was the most valuable brand despite a 5% decline in brand value.
The total value of those 100 brands increased by 2.5% to $199bn. Sixty brands saw an increase in brand value, while 36 saw declines and four new brands entered the ranks.
The report defined brand value as the “present value of earnings specifically related to brand reputation”. Brand strength was determined through measures including perceptions of the brand among different groups such as customers as well as performance measures like market share.
The report said Qantas had fallen 22 places in brand strength since the previous report. “This performance was mainly due to reputational issues that generated negative media coverage,” Brand Finance said in a statement.
The airline also dropped in brand value by 7% to $2.8bn. It did however climb up a spot to 17th most valuable brand, following increased revenue. Jetstar, on a completely different trajectory, climbed 20 places to 46th strongest brand.
Jetstar also saw a 5% decrease in brand value to $578m, “affected by a dip in revenue forecasts due to falling revenues from domestic flights in light of inflationary pressures”, the report said.
Bunnings remained Australia’s strongest brand for the third year running. Its brand value also jumped 20% to $6.5bn, and in-store sales increased by 3.7%. The hardware company demonstrated growth in both consumer and commercial segments in all regions.
The brand’s investment in digital channels, website enhancements and phone applications helped strengthen its market position, according to the report.
NRMA Insurance was the second-strongest brand, jumping seven spots and relegating Woolworths to third place. Its brand value was up 91% to $2bn – making it one of the fastest-growing brands in this year’s rankings.
Woolworths, Coles and Bunnings were affected by the cost-of-living crisis – all hurt by the decline in real retail spending for three consecutive quarters “due to consumers tightening their discretionary purchases amid rising living costs”, the report said.
Mark Crowe, the managing director of Brand Finance Australia, said strong brands were important “during challenging economic times in growing or minimising loss of value and mitigating reputational risk while providing reassurance to consumers confronted by cost-of-living pressure”.
The report also ranked the brands’ value, finding Woolworths, Telstra, Commonwealth Bank and Coles were the top four most valuable Australian brands, maintaining their ranks despite each posting brand value declines.
Woolworths defended its crown despite a 5% decline in brand value to $15.4bn. The win comes as supermarket giants face the prospect of tougher rules on how they set prices or face stiffer penalties from consumer complaints stemming from the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct review.
The report said Woolworths had remained “committed to elevating customer experience”, pointing to a new feature on its app allowing better tracking of purchases.
Telstra came in second place, with a brand value drop of only 1% to $13bn. In third place, Commonwealth Bank experienced a 7% drop in brand value to $10.6bn. Coles saw a 9% decrease to $9.8bn.
Eight of 11 banking brands posted increases in brand value. With a 10% year-on-year growth, the banking sector performed better than the retail sector, which saw 2% growth.
