For the first time since 2010, a private company has topped the list of China’s most valuable brands… and it’s not Alibaba. The report published by Millward Brown, the brand analysis arm of British advertising and public relations firm WPP, showed that Chinese Internet giant Tencent is now the most valuable brand in China. Tencent leads the list with a brand value of US $66 billion, followed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, whose brand value was placed at US $59 billion. State-owned China Mobile, which dominated the list for four years, settled in the third spot. The report said the Chinese market ranks ahead of the rest of the world in overall brand growth – 59 percent to 41 percent – and continues to lead the world in use of mobile and Internet technology. Based on the world list, Tencent's brand value is almost twice that of Facebook, and Alibaba's was close behind Amazon. Millward Brown measures brand value based on the extent to which a firm's revenue is likely to be driven by consumer loyalty and other positive things associated with its brand. In China, the analysis only considered publicly listed companies, so rising brands like Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and Xiaomi Inc. were excluded. Millward Brown’s BrandZ division global head Doreen Wang said Chinese brands are fast catching up their international competitors in financials but still lag behind in the critical area of differentiation. Wang said a unique brand identity is a key determinant, particularly as major companies turn their eyes to international markets, as only 22 percent of foreign consumers could recognize a Chinese brand. “Chinese companies will have to stop imitating competitors and rely on their reputations in China for this to change,” Wang said. China’s colossal market is also being driven by savvy Chinese consumers, Wang said. Local companies are closely monitoring the market changes and foreign companies will have to find new ways to appeal to the savvy Chinese consumers in order to thrive in the Chinese market.

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