:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-1320378499-a38a8ef9ef5a44be99dd993fc32689b7.jpg "Companies and Products With Outstanding Brand Equity")
Key Takeaways
- Brand equity refers to a value premium that a company generates from a product with a recognizable name when compared to a generic equivalent.
- Creating and maintaining strong brand equity is critical to a company’s success.
- Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol and Costco’s Kirkland have been great brands for their parent companies.
- Companies that have grown into brand powerhouses include Coca-Cola and Starbucks.
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While many companies and products have strong brand equity, some of the most recognized are Tylenol, Kirkland Signature by Costco (COST), Coca-Cola (KO), Starbucks (SBUX), and Porsche. All of these companies enforce quality control to ensure the best possible service and product is delivered to the client or consumer.
Creating and maintaining strong brand equity is critical to a company’s success. When a brand is associated with high quality, trust, reliability, and other positive attributes, consumers tend to flock to it almost automatically. For a company, this ensures strong sales, growth, and a positive future financial outlook.
Tylenol
Manufactured since 1955 by McNeil (now a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson), Tylenol ranks above average in the pain relief category. A study performed by researchers at the University of Chicago showed that, even though Tylenol is “physically homogenous” with generic brands of acetaminophen, consumers without any expert knowledge end up choosing Tylenol about 26% more often than its generic counterpart.
Furthermore, as of Q4 2025, Tylenol was the fifth most popular drug brand, after Band-Aid, Neosporin, Advil, and Benedryl. With millennials, it is the third most popular drug brand. Out of all respondents questioned, 98% have heard of Tylenol.
Tylenol has been able to grow its market with the creation of Tylenol Extra Strength, Tylenol Cold & Flu, and Tylenol Sinus Congestion & Pain.
Kirkland Signature
Since 2009, the Kirkland Signature brand by Costco has maintained positive growth. Kirkland Signature encompasses hundreds of items, including clothing, coffee, laundry detergent, and food and beverages.
Kirkland Signature even includes gasoline, which Costco provides its members. The gasoline is cheaper than standard market rates and is provided at Costco’s private gas stations. Adding to Kirkland’s popularity is the fact that its products often cost less than other name brands.
Starbucks
Thanks in part to Starbucks’ loyalty program, which in January 2026 reported 35.5 million members, Starbucks is one of the most powerful brands in the world.
As it has for years, Starbucks again appeared on Fortune magazine’s list of the 50 most admired companies in 2026. The company maintains its social responsibility commitment with a focus on reducing its carbon, water, and waste footprints by 50% by the year 2030. It also continues its investments in communities around the world through its community impact grants. In 2025, the company gave more than $3.5 million to over 100 nonprofit organizations in 50 markets.
With more than 29,000 stores around the globe, Starbucks remains one of the largest roasters and retailers of Arabica coffee beans and specialty coffees. In the Fortune 500 rankings for 2025, Starbucks ranked no. 126.
Fast Fact
Starbucks’ main competitors are Dunkin’ Donuts, Costa Coffee, McDonald’s, and Tim Hortons—companies with their own strong brand equity.
Coca-Cola
With a brand value of $46 billion, Coca-Cola is the 37th most valuable global brand in 2026 and is often rated as the best soda brand in the world. However, the brand itself represents more than just the company’s products; it’s symbolic of positive experiences, a proud history, even the U.S. itself.
Also recognized for its unique marketing campaigns, the Coca-Cola corporation has made a global impact on its consumer engagement. According to Fortune, Coca-Cola is the 22nd most admired company in the world. Among beverage companies, it ranks no. 1. In the Fortune 500 rankings, Coca-Cola comes in at no. 97.
Coca-Cola still outsells its historical rival, Pepsi. It controls 19.1% of the soft drink market while Pepsi controls 7.9%. As of 2025, Keurig Dr. Pepper owned the seond largest share of the market at 8.3% and Sprite came in third at 8.03%. It appears that Coca-Cola continues to dominate the cola wars.
Porsche
Porsche, a brand with strong equity in the automobile sector, retains its image and reliability through the use of high-quality, unique materials. As a luxury brand, Porsche provides owners of its vehicles not only with a product but also an experience. In comparison to other vehicle brands in its luxury class, Porsche ranks no. 2 after BMW, according to Consumer Reports.
How Much Is Apple’s Brand Worth?
In 2026, Apple’s brand is the world’s most valuable at $608 billion.
How Can a Company Build Brand Equity?
Companies build brand equity by creating a positive experience and association with their products that cannot be found with competitor products, or that is better than competitor products. To build brand equity, a company must first start building brand awareness to achieve brand recognition, deliver a high-quality product, and then create a positive experience for the customer to establish brand preference.
What Are the Most Valuable U.S. Brands Worldwide?
In 2026, the most valuable brands in the U.S. are Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Walmart, and Facebook.
The Bottom Line
Brand equity is built by a company over time through the delivery of high-quality products, strong marketing, reliability, positive press, and great engagement with customers. A company’s strong brand equity (and with that, trust) is a key factor in its continued success. Once a consumer becomes loyal to a brand, they perceive it as having an added value that no other brand has. This sets the stage for a company’s ongoing financial growth and possible domination of its market.
