L’Oréal Paris has been named the world’s most valuable personal care brand for the fifth consecutive year in BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking for 2017.

The French beauty behemoth has upped its brand value by 2 percent over the last year, to US$23.9 billion.

Stablemate Lancôme was among the fastest risers in the annual rankings announced today by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown, with its brand value up 10 percent to US$9.4 billion to see it retain its place in fourth.

Colgate was ranked second, and Gillette (P&G) third, although both saw their brand value fall (by 3 percent and 1 percent respectively). Nivea (Beiersdorf) came in fifth, tailed by L’Oréal-owned Garnier. Lauder’s Clinique took sixth place, Dove (Unilever) was ranked seventh and Estée Lauder was placed ninth, with P&G’s Pantene rounding off the top 10.

“Growing as a brand in today’s crowded and diverse personal care marketplace means understanding your position in the sector, and who your consumers are. Luxury brands need to find innovative ways to emphasize their difference, which consumers value highly, to build connections. Mass brands should create affinity by focusing innovation around their ability to meet needs and make consumers’ lives better. All brands can foster loyalty by using data and technology to communicate the right message at exactly the right time, for example contacting consumers with incentives to buy again when they’re about to run out of a product,” said Doreen Wang, Global Head of BrandZ.