The biggest Finnish brands are booming with big gains in brand value as the nation looks towards a post-COVID future, according to new rankings from leading global brand consultancy, Brand Finance. The new rankings find that eleven of the top twelve Finnish brands achieved strong brand value growth, almost all by double-digit values. With other big Finnish brands delivering very strong growth, Nokia (brand value down 3% to €7.7 billion) is repositioning itself to deliver sustainable growth and adapt to significantly changed marketplace in the wake of COVID-19 and increased decentralised digitisation.
Every year, leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the world’s biggest brands to the test, and publishes around 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries. The top 25 most valuable and strongest brands in Finland are included in the annual Brand Finance Finland 25 ranking. This year, Brand Finance conducted local research in Finland for its Global Brand Equity Monitor for the first time, covering 61 brands across the Finnish economy.
Nokia is adopting a new brand purpose focused on creating technology that helps the world act together. This came with a plan that included the creation of business divisions dedicated to mobile networks, network infrastructure, cloud and network services and its patent-holding division called Nokia Technologies – all focused on delivering substantial value to its network and operator customers.
Neste jumps to 2nd place with 20% brand value growth
Renewable energy solutions provider Neste increased its brand value by 20% to €2.2 billion, and in doing so, overtook Kone (brand value up 8% to €2.0 billion) to become the second most valuable Finnish brand. Neste’s brand value increased substantially as a result of its strong partnership-building and investments in an effort to become a global leader in renewable and circular solutions. Neste is being increasingly recognised across the world as a key partner for the production of sustainable aviation and diesel fuels.
As the world opens to a post-COVID future, Finnish brands such as Neste and UPM are growing rapidly because they are able to serve growing demands for sustainable solutions to long-term challenges. With increasing consideration of environmental, social and governance issues, these Finnish brands are seizing the opportunity to deliver for their key stakeholders.
Anna Brolin, Managing Director of Brand Finance Nordics
Many big Engineering & Construction industry firms achieve strong brand value growth, led by Kone, UPM, Stora Enso and Metso Outotec
Several Finnish brands operating in engineering and construction have achieved very rapid brand value growth, including Kone (brand value up 8% to €2.0 billion), UPM (brand value up 22% to €1.0 billion), Stora Enso (brand value up 21% to €1.0 billion) and Metso Outotec (brand value up 26% to €0.8 billion). Each of these brands have made strong efforts to improve sustainability, and serve public demand for improved performance on environment, social and governance goals.
While offices have been substantially disrupted through the pandemic, and there are significant long-term questions about the demand for offices with increased levels of remote working, Kone’s focus on elevators and escalators brand value grew significantly. Despite 8% brand value growth, Kone fell from being the second-most valuable Finnish brand to third-most after being overtaken by Neste. Kone is working to support increased urbanisation globally, especially in China, which is correlated with demand for escalators and elevators.
Similarly, KPM sees itself as a ‘leader in responsibility’ with its future brand prospects focused on enabling customers to make more sustainable choices. UPM is repositioning itself to deliver more sustainable specialty packaging materials, fibres (especially plywood) and biorefining options to deliver new energy options. Along similar lines, Stora Enso is one of the world’s leading providers of renewable products in package and also one of the world’s largest non-governmental forest owners in the world. Both the KPM and Stora Enso brands are benefiting from increased customer demand for sustainable packaging and products.
Elisa is Finland’s strongest and fastest growing brand with 67% increase in value
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance. Compliant with ISO 20671, Brand Finance’s assessment of stakeholder equity incorporates original market research data from over 100,000 respondents in more than 35 countries and across nearly 30 sectors. Elisa (brand value up 67% to €1.2 billion) is the strongest brand in Finland with an AAA brand rating and a corresponding Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 85.6 out of 100.
In addition to being the strongest Finnish brand, Elisa was also the fastest-growing Finnish brand. It is achieving significant strength and significant growth by leading on various environmental issues (back in 2020, it became the first carbon-neutral mobile operator in the Nordic countries) and through an aggressive program of international acquisition and investment. In many such markets, it serves as a challenger brand where it is able to bring fresh approaches without significant legacy commitments and expectations.
Elisa is building a very strong brand and growing very quickly. It is successfully delivering on key brand promises to simultaneously deliver high-quality and environmentally sensitive services to a demanding target market.
Anna Brolin, Managing Director of Brand Finance Nordics