Interbrand announced its second annual Interbrand Breakthrough Brands report in partnership with New York Stock Exchange (NYSE),Ready Set Rocket, and Facebook this week. The 2017 report recognizes 40 next-generation, disruptive brands that define progress and the potential to grow. The report complements Interbrand’s annual Best Global Brands report, now entering its 18th year, by putting a spotlight on emerging brands—those that are affecting change and embodying growth.
“There are moments throughout the life of your business when you enter a new stage of growth,” said Jez Frampton, Interbrand’s Global CEO. “For Breakthrough Brands, it’s realizing there’s a gap or a need in the marketplace, and filling it. These brands are catalysts as they are not just setting new standards for other brands, they’re breaking them.”
After analyzing over 350 submissions from global influencers and open public submissions, 40 brands were selected as this year’s Breakthrough Brands, each helping to illustrate key breaking insights. The report features brands to watch and incorporates a deep dive into growth and innovation across key global regions including EMEA, LatAm, North America, and Asia Pacific.
All 40 brands represent the next generation of brands; the startups, upstarts, challengers, problem solvers, innovators, and category creators. These brands join many of the 2016 brands that have shown stand out growth in the past year. Notable brands from the inaugural list include Casper, AWAY, Line, Venmo, Blue Apron, and iCarbonX.
This year’s report divides the Breakthrough Brands into seven key insights:
- The working future: An increased focus on individuals and what they need to be fulfilled within their careers and their lives especially as they become increasingly intertwined, such as Slack and General Assembly.
- From lifehacking to better living: Brands that are looking to improve our lives by removing concerns, obstacles, and unnecessary interactions. The good life is not about more, but better; Thrive Global and Sea for example.
- Not so artificial intelligence: Brands that are leading this charge—by both creating and harnessing these new tools—are going to dictate the future with this breakthrough technology; like Face++ and Clarifai.
- Meaningful mobility: It’s not about the journey or the destination, it’s about fundamentally changing how we move people and things, with the aim of improving our environment, society, and lives through brands likeDidi and Ofo.
- Funding change: The focus in finance is truly personal, as brands find breakthrough ways to align with individuals’ values, and empower people to take greater control of their financial futures with brands like Square andWealthsimple.
- Experiences on demand: Some brands make it easier to get what we want, others make it easier to find what we want, but all are helping us live an on-demand lifestyle, which is what brands like MikMak and Flipkart look to do.
- Health in your hands: By leveraging tech innovation and pooling huge, previously unmanageable amounts of information, these new brands are improving the entire spectrum of care like Babylon and HumanCharger.
“Staying agile in the face of change means constant access to the latest breakthroughs, innovations and experiences,” said Chief Communications Officer of Interbrand, Paola Norambuena. “These Breakthrough Brands are evidence of changing dynamics, and the insights they embody are ones that brands and businesses of every size need to understand and embrace.”
“In a time when so many brands are doing so many great things, Breakthrough Brands must excel across the board. This requires authenticity, an optimized experience, and putting the customer first consistently,” noted Alex Lirtsman, Co-Founder & Chief Strategist at Ready Set Rocket.
When selecting the brands to be featured in this report, these criteria were key:
Criteria & Methodology
- Age: Is the brand 10 years or younger?
- Change: Is the brand driving change by responding to a unique marketplace need, generating a new experience for consumers, disrupting an industry, adopting a new business model or developing a new technology?
- Growth: Is the brand demonstrating its ability to grow? Is it operating as a successful business? Is it stretching into new product or service categories—or new geographies? Is it attracting top talent?
- Buzz: Is the brand grabbing attention and gaining momentum?
- Originality: Is the brand presenting a unique business model that challenges the traditional way of doing things?
“These next-gen brands represent the future. They are disruptive and defining, innovative and impactful,” said Russ Rubino, VP of Marketing at Intercontinental Exchange. “In many ways, these young companies exemplify the NYSE’s mission – to help great companies do great things by improving the lives of people and society with integrity, vision, humanity and impact.”
To learn more about these insights and the brands highlighted in the second annual Interbrand Breakthrough Brands report, please visit interbrandbreakthroughbrands.com, where the report is available for download.
