Global auditing giant Deloitte has once again been adjudged by the world’s leading independent brand valuation consultancy, Brand Finance, as the most Valuable and Strongest Commercial Services brand in the world.
According to the annual report on the most valuable and strongest commercial services brands (June 2020), Deloitte retained the title following a 10 percent brand value increase to US$32.5billion. Strong revenue growth is the key driver behind the international giant’s brand value increase, with all five of Deloitte’s business segments recording strong results.
In addition to measuring overall brand value, Brand Finance also evaluates the relative strength of brands based on factors such as marketing investment, customer familiarity, staff satisfaction, and corporate reputation. Alongside revenue forecasts, brand strength is a crucial driver of brand value. According to these criteria, Deloitte is also the world’s strongest commercial services brand with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 91.4 out of 100 and a corresponding elite AAA+ rating.
The report says the auditing firm has invested considerably in its workforce through learning and development initiatives, enabling it to deliver high quality, consistent services to clients. Also, above and beyond developing its workforce, Deloitte is committed to helping communities through its societal impact initiative, WorldClass, which prepares people and clients for the technological changes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The brand’s increased CSR scores are a testament to this.
What’s more, Deloitte is the only brand in the Big Four to record an increase in brand strength this year. It is also the most valuable brand in the professional services sub sector, with a sizeable lead over Accenture in 2nd and PwC in 3rd.
However, the report adds that the brand value of the world’s biggest companies is set to lose an estimated US$1tn as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, with the aviation sector being the most affected.
CEO of Brand Finance, David Haigh, says brands across every sector worldwide need to brace themselves for the coronavirus to massively affect their business activities, supply chain and revenues in a way that eclipses the 2003 SARS outbreak.
For this reason, Deloitte CEO Punit Renjen has urged organisations to prepare for the future by building trust and embracing change.
“Trust is actionable and human. And it’s nurtured along four dimensions: there’s the trust that your physical space is safe; the trust that your emotional and societal needs are being safeguarded; the trust that your financial concerns are being served; and the trust that your digital information is secure.
“But building trust is only half the equation. The other half – just as critical to recovering from and thriving after a crisis, is embracing change to create the next normal. It’s simple: Resilient leaders are agile leaders, people who are unafraid to integrate new attitudes, beliefs and structures into their organisations’ DNA; because they know that doing so will help them to not just recover lost ground, but catapult forward – quickly.
“Many leaders demonstrated just this kind of agility in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis. From enacting remote-work arrangements to offshoring entire business processes to less-affected geographies, to initiating cross-company cooperation to redeploy furloughed employees across sectors, they changed their business models – in some cases, literally overnight,” he said in the report
