DuPont, which is slated to merge with Dow has seen its brand value increase 29 percent to $3 billion.
A report from Brand Finance valued the brands of thousands of the world’s biggest companies. Brands that were ranked increased by an average of 11 percent.
DuPont ranked 235th overall on the top 500 list. It was the only Delaware company to make a list. Taking first place was Google, which replaced Apple in the top spot.
The ranking based a brand’s strength is based on factors such as marketing investment, familiarity, preference, sustainability and margins.
After a merger slated for later this year, the combined companies will then be split off into three publicly traded entities in agriculture, specialty businesses and material science.
The specialty business and agricultural enterprises will be based in Delaware, with the ag business at least partially carrying the DuPont name.
California remains America’s most valuable state by brand value. Its dominance in tech (the most valuable and fastest growing sector regarding brand value) has enabled California to pull well ahead of the rest. Of the country’s top 500 brands, 71 hail from the Golden State, with a total value of $725 billion
New York is in second place, but despite having just one less brand in the top 500 than California, New York’s total is significantly lower, at $481 billion.
Finance comprises a large share of New York’s total brand value so New York has therefore been disproportionately affected by the stalling values of financial services brands.
Amazon is growing strongly (brand value is up 53 percent year on year, with Brand Finance noting that Amazon could easily become the most valuable brand in the US and the rest of the world in 2018.
The brand values of McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Subway and Domino’s have all fallen due to heavy competition in an increasingly fragmented market, with healthier challenger brands offering greater choice for consumers.
America’s airlines have all soared in value with United, Delta and American growing by 60%, 47% and 59% respectively. In the process, American has overtaken Emirates to become the world’s most valuable airline brand.
View the full list of America’s 500 most valuable brands here
