DBS crowned Southeast Asia's most valuable brand in Kantar BrandZ 2026 ranking

PRNewswire
Singapore, July 15: Kantar, the world's leading data, analytics and AI business, today unveiled the third edition of its BrandZ™ Southeast Asia ranking and report, revealing that Southeast Asia's Top 30 most valuable brands are now worth a combined US$165.3 billion. The ranking highlights the resilience of the region's strongest brands, whose value has grown 26% since 2024 despite a challenging global economic environment. Growth has been broad-based: 18 brands have grown, 16 at a double-digit pace, with four more than doubling their value. This was driven by strong consumer relevance and clear differentiation in increasingly competitive markets.
- The region's Top 30 brands are now worth US$165 billion and outperform global peers on Meaningful Difference.
- Shopee, Lazada and POSB rank amongst the fastest-growing brands
The rankings also highlight the continued dominance of Financial Services, which accounts for more than half of the total value in the Top 30. Banking brands occupy five of the top 10 positions, demonstrating the strength of consumer trust and the growing importance of financial brands in people's daily lives.
Telecommunications remains the second-largest category, led by Thailand's AIS, while Retail continues to gain momentum through the growth of e-commerce leaders Shopee and Lazada.
Valued at US$24.5bn, DBS has overtaken BCA to become Southeast Asia's most valuable brand, more than doubling its value since 2024. This growth is driven by strong brand foundations, anchored in a clear commitment to sustainability and financial security - a positioning that has earned it recognition as Asia's Safest Bank for 17 consecutive years. Its proposition also travels well beyond its home market, demonstrating its ability to scale a meaningfully different offer across multiple markets.

Scaling success: how top risers are accelerating growth

The fastest-rising brand in the Top 30 is POSB (People's Own Savings Bank), leaping eight places to No.13, and increasing its value 126% to $4.4bn. Singapore's oldest bank has strengthened its purpose - 'Neighbours first, bankers second' - through community-led initiatives, and emotionally compelling storytelling. Its innovative 'Treat Yourself Right' campaign, using GenAI to bring consumers face-to-face with their future selves, demonstrates how technology can deepen engagement while reinforcing brand meaning.
Among the 24 brands featuring in both the 2026 and 2024 rankings, those with the strongest growth also have the widest international reach, highlighting the commercial advantage of translating locally-built brand meaning into regionally relevant offers. Singaporean brand Lazada (No.12; $4.5bn; +105%) has succeeded with a strategy based on quality, authenticity and trust. It offers consumers peace of mind in a complex e-commerce landscape through its '100% Legit' guarantee, and this narrative resonates across diverse markets, supporting sustained growth and strengthening consumer confidence.
Commenting on the results, Rika Sharma, Executive Managing Director, Southeast Asia and Singapore, Kantar, says: "Southeast Asia's most valuable brands have earned their place by building deep, meaningful connections with consumers around enduring human needs that transcend markets and cultures. While many are already firmly embedded in people's lives, sustaining growth in the years ahead will require greater ambition and innovation. The strongest brands will be those that expand into new spaces, create new sources of value for consumers and sharpen their differentiation in ways that justify premium pricing. Achieving this consistently will depend on a more strategic application of consumer and market understanding, powered by AI-enabled intelligence that helps turn brand decisions into measurable business impact."
Newcomers combine bold positioning with cross-market relevance
Six new entrants join BrandZ's Southeast Asian ranking this year, spanning five categories and five markets: Malaysian telecom provider CelcomDigi (No.14; $4.2bn), Vietnam-founded EV manufacturer VinFast (No.15; $4.0bn), Malaysian retailer 99 Speedmart (No.21; $2.6bn), Indonesia's Mayapada Hospital (No.24; $2.4bn), and financial services brands SCB (Siam Commercial Bank) (No.28; $1.4bn) from Thailand and BDO (No.29; $1.4bn) from the Philippines. Each newcomer has broken into the Top 30 by establishing a clear point of differentiation that cuts through, and by amplifying that difference through focused, effective communications.
VinFast exemplifies this approach through its 'For a Green Future' mission, combining accessible electric mobility with ecosystem innovation, such as its GreenSM Taxi services. This clear, future-facing positioning has supported rapid expansion within Southeast Asia and beyond. Meanwhile, Indonesia's Mayapada Hospital has built momentum by positioning itself as a provider of world-class healthcare within the region, reducing the need for outbound medical travel. Its strong, digitally led communications reinforce its premium, progressive credentials among consumers.
Key trends from the 2026 Kantar BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands report include:
- Southeast Asia's Top 30 outperform the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands on the three fundamental drivers of brand growth - Meaning, Difference and Salience - signalling their strong connection with consumers and their readiness for sustained future growth
- Consumers increasingly see Southeast Asian brands as 'worth it'. By demonstrating clear Meaningful Difference, these brands reinforce perceptions of value for money and justify premium pricing.
The 2026 Kantar BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands ranking, full report and in-depth analysis are now available at: www.kantar.com/campaigns/brandz/southeast-asia
For category-level competitive insights, Kantar's free BrandSnapshot tool, powered by BrandZ, offers at-a-glance intelligence on 15,000 brands worldwide. Explore it here.
About Kantar: Kantar is the world's leading marketing data and analytics business. We deliver the intelligence needed to power brand growth in the AI era. We provide the signals that help organisations act quickly and confidently. We empower brands to make effective marketing decisions based on predictive evidence. And we help them craft powerful growth strategies rooted in the connection between consumers, brands and enterprise value. All this is powered by our uniquely robust human and synthetic data, our unrivalled IP, our AI-native platform and the team of global brand experts that bring this all together.
About Kantar BrandZ: Kantar BrandZ is the global currency when assessing brand value, quantifying the contribution of brands to business' financial performance. Kantar's annual global and local brand valuation rankings combine rigorously analysed financial data, with extensive brand equity research. Since 1998, BrandZ has shared brand-building insights with business leaders based on interviews with 4.6 million consumers, for 22,392 brands in 54 markets. Discover more about Kantar BrandZ here.
The Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands is the most definitive and robust ranking available. The ranking is based on interviews with more than 120,000 respondents, on 2,050 brands in 85 categories. The ranking focuses exclusively on consumer-facing brands, and brands must meet the following criteria:
- The brand must have originated in one of the following markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam
- The brand must be owned by a publicly listed company or by a company that publishes full financial statements in the public domain.
For more information, please contact:
Amanjit Singh, Marketing Director- APAC, Kantar | Amanjit.singh@kantar.com
Mishuelle Wee, Digital Marketing Manager, Kantar | mishuelle.wee@kantar.com
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