Beauty giant L’Oréal has maintained its position as the world’s most valuable personal brand in the 2016 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking.

L’Oreal saw a rise in value to $23.5 billion and has maintained its position thanks to a slew of new products and a successful move into digital and online marketing.

Colgate came in at number two on the list, which was released by WPP and Millward Brown, with a 2 percent rise to $18.3 billion. This rise was boosted by ‘rising market share in both toothpaste and manual toothbrush sales in North America and Latin America.’

The other companies within the top 15 are Gilette at number three followed by Lancôme, Nivea, Garnier, Clinique, Dove, Estée Lauder, Olay, Pantene Pro V, Crest, Oral B, Shiseido and Pond’s.

However, the total 15 top brand’s value has remained static due to difficult market conditions, such as smaller niche brands being able to use e-commerce to drive sales. Other factors in the report were cited as ‘the power of mobile access to give millennials rapid access to new brands, and the shift of traditional female focused brands into the male space.’

Challenger brands that are dominating the market, but yet to make into BrandZ top 100 are noted as companies such as Birchbox and Amazon personal care sales, which are all helped enormously by their successful online presence. This gives them wider reach and greater distribution options.  

Doreen Wang, Global Head of BrandZ, said, “Big legacy brands have a unique opportunity to hit back at younger rivals and retain their relevance for the new consumers coming into the personal care market.
“They have the scale and resources to develop easier mobile based purchasing solutions but they need to combine this with greater differentiation, catering to the specific needs of the widest possible range of consumers.”