A message from our CEO

WELCOME TO TENET’S 2020 TOP 100 MOST POWERFUL BRANDS REPORT.

Few moments in our lives, careers and even mankind’s past are truly remarkable. The 2020 pandemic is our moment. Disease and uncertainty have halted life in every corner of society, reshaping and reorganizing economies and ecosystems over one of the shortest periods in history. Each shift profoundly impacts us all. This report, while looking back into 2019 and early 2020, aims to help leaders consider the changes that will impact their companies, specifically the corporate brands.

For over 25 years, Tenet has tracked corporate brands through the longest longitudinal study of its kind. This body of work drives the only exchange traded fund that seeks unrealized value in corporate brands, guides CMOs, CEOs and boards, and helps brand managers understand how communication investments impact company value.

This year’s report, and the supplemental report coming later this year, have special importance to our team. For 2019 and Q1 of 2020 leading into the pandemic, corporate brands were at their highest BrandPower and brand valuations in our research’s history. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and others achieved enterprise valuations that seemed impossible a decade ago, lifting many boats with them. With few exceptions, brands have enjoyed a robust time of growth.

Today, we see vast swaths of winners and losers in the pandemic. What is interesting, and unique in modern history, is witnessing many industries face dramatic headwinds while others rise to newfound dominance. It may take years to close the divides between the haves and have nots, if it’s even possible.

Pre-pandemic, consumers had settled into strong B2C and B2B brand relationships. And, in a heartbeat, those relationships shifted. What was essential, was no longer. What is essential now, is redefining our take on companies and their existence. Many consumers are choosing new brands as essential to their lives in this moment. And, craving ones that they have been forced to put aside. Lastly, they’ve deemed new brands as essential to them going forward. The essential brand is the essence of this year’s report. We hope that no matter where you are on the continuum of being essential, that these strategies can help all companies create sustainable competitive advantage and resiliency.

This report is a pre-pandemic snapshot — our follow-up later this year will look toward the other side of the recovery. Both reports will provide CMOs and brand leaders sound guidance to re-center and move forward.

Hampton Bridwell
CEO, Tenet Partners