ABB is the most valuable business-to-business (B2B) brand in Switzerland

2014-5-20 www.abb.com

Zurich, Switzerland, May 14, 2014 – ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has been ranked seventh as a new entry on Interbrand’s annual list of the most valuable Swiss brands, making it the most valuable B2B business brand in Switzerland. This year, for the first time, B2B brands were included on the list.

The global brand consultancy values the ABB brand at around 5 billion Swiss francs. The inclusion of B2B companies for the first time recognizes their importance to the Swiss economy, according to Interbrand.

“We are very proud of this recognition as it shows the tremendous value we have built with our brand,” said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer. “It reflects ABB’s status as a world leader in power technologies. ABB’s technologies enable substantial energy savings, productivity gains in automation as well as a stable and smart power grid. The brand represents what we stand for: Power and Productivity for a better world.”

ABB had global revenues of almost $42 billion in 2013 and has 150’000 employees in more than 100 countries. Its portfolio of leading power and automation solutions include drives that saved more than 400 teraWatt hours (TWh) in 2013, equivalent to the electricity consumption of 100 million EU households. The company is also pioneer in fast-charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and has won record-setting orders in Estonia, the Netherlands and China.

ABB invests around $1.5 billion annually in research and development and employs about 8’500 technologists. In 2013, ABB had the most patent filings of all Swiss companies and won multiple awards for its innovations. In early 2014, ABB won the prestigious Zayed award as a global sustainability leader.

“Thanks to consistent brand management, ABB conveys an image of excellent technical quality and high performance, and clearly communicates its contributions to solving today’s global challenges," said Michel Gabriel, Managing Director of Interbrand Zurich.

“The role of brands in the B2B sector has increased continuously in the past few years because many companies have recognized that in highly competitive global industries, branding is one of the few mechanisms they can use to set themselves apart from the competition in the long term,” Gabriel added. “So a strong brand is a definite competitive advantage.”

These and other findings from the study are available exclusively in the Interbrand Best Swiss Brands of 2014 report, on the website www.bestswissbrands2014.ch, or in the May 16 issue of BILANZ magazine.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 150,000 people.

About Interbrand

Founded in 1974, Interbrand is one of the world’s largest branding consultancies. With nearly 40 offices in 29 countries, Interbrand’s combination of rigorous strategy, analytics, and world-class design enables it to assist clients in creating and managing brand value effectively, across all touchpoints, in all market dynamics. Interbrand is widely recognized for its annual Best Global Brands report, the definitive guide to the world’s most valuable brands, as well as its Best Global Green Brands report, which identifies the gap between customer perception and a brand’s performance relative to sustainability. It is also known for having created brandchannel.com, a Webby-award winning resource about brand marketing and branding. For more information, visit Interbrand.com