The Swiss telephone and internet provider Swisscom has been named the third strongest brand in the world and the most dominant brand in Europe, according to a new ranking by the rating institute Brand Finance. The news came as quite a surprise, even to the company itself.

The Global 500 by Brand Finance in 2023

Every year, Brand Finance publishes the Global 500 to determine which brands are the strongest worldwide. To create the ranking, each brand is compared by its perception and recognition by the general public, how valuable the brand is and how much has been invested into the brand's image.

In 2023, it was the dominant internet brand Google that took the top spot, rising from third to first - to be fair, it must be harder to find someone who doesn’t know the multinational megalith. Another internet giant, YouTube, nabbed second place after coming in fourth last year. Interestingly, both companies saw their rating decline in 2023, with the third step of the podium now occupied by a less-than-likely company.

Swiss mobile provider the strongest brand in Europe

Swisscom, the Swiss mobile provider, has shot up the brand ranking from 23rd in 2022 to place third on the global list for 2023. The brand is now the most dominant in Europe and beat last year’s winner, China’s WeChat, with a score of 91,7 points. The only other Swiss international company on the global list was Rolex, which came in 19th with 87,8 points.

Speaking to Watson, a rather astonished Swisscom media spokesperson, Annina Merk, said, “The strongest brand in Europe and the third strongest brand in the world, that's an amazing result! We're just really happy about it.” However, “the big leap forward surprised us a bit," she admitted.

Swisscom praised for 5G and quality of service

So how did Swisscom manage to beat out CocaCola, Ferrari, Instagram and Purina to be named the world’s third strongest brand? According to Watson, the study cited the company’s leading role in developing 5G technology as a major strong point. This was also mentioned in a previous study, which named Swisscom the best mobile phone provider in the German-speaking world.

The study also praised the company for its physical presence in Switzerland through its policy of keeping its stores open. Finally, Brand Finance concluded that customer perceptions of Swisscom remain good and that you can always guarantee the same level of service, regardless of which store you visit.

The world's 10 strongest brands in 2023

In all, here are the world’s 10 strongest brands:

1. Google
2. YouTube
3. Swisscom
4. WeChat
5. Deloitte
6. Kweichow Moutai
7. Instagram
8. Ferrari 
9. Jio
10. Ernst & Young

In addition, the top 10 Swiss brands in 2023 are:

1. Swisscom
2. Lindt & Sprüngli
3. Rolex
4. Nestlé
5. Lonza Group
6. Nescafé
7. Maggi
8. Logitech
9. Geberit
10. Roche

For more information about the ranking, please visit the official website.

Image: Shutterstock.com / marekusz