According to Brand Finance, Lego is the world’s most valuable toy brand, valued at $7.6 billion, over seven times that of second-placed Bandai Namco. Lego is also the industry’s strongest brand across any industry category, according to Brand Finance’s Global 500 report.
Brands are first evaluated to determine their power and strength (based on factors such as marketing investment, familiarity, loyalty, staff satisfaction, and corporate reputation) and given a corresponding letter grade up to AAA+. Brand strength is used to determine what proportion of a business’s revenue is contributed by the brand, which is projected into perpetuity to determine the brand’s value. The world’s most valuable toy brands are ranked and included in the Brand Finance Toys 25 2017.
Lego’s monobrand structure makes it a rarity within the industry, as opposed to Mattel’s and Hasbro’s house of brands approach. This structure helps to explain why, even accounting for its formidable brand strength, it is in a league of its own in terms of brand value, according to Brand Finance. With so much attention and revenues flowing just to Lego’s unified brand, so other individual toy brand must challenge it in value.
Bandai Namco is the second most valuable and fastest growing brand. Its value grew 652 percent to $1 billion. The combined name of Namco Bandai had only been applied in a corporate context but as of 2016, Bandai Namco has been applied across a range of consumer-facing products, ultimately increasing revenue attributable to the brand.
The world has seen a 3 percent decline in sales of games and puzzles, and Monopoly’s brand value reflects this trend, dropping 6 percent to $132 million this year. Hasbro has attempted to modernize Monopoly by introducing new editions such as ‘Here and Now’ and ‘Ultimate Banking’ and by removing the thimble and flat iron tokens, a staple of the game since 1935.
Brand Finance is a valuation and strategy consultancy that values the brands of thousands of the world’s biggest companies. Click here to read the full report.