Startups often underestimate the business potential of branding. The German Startup Brand Ranking tributes those young brands who have been able to achieve a strong brand image despite their young age. Our annual paper contains the ranking, which is based on extensive research, but also more. Over 40 pages we dig deep into the numbers and the marketing measures behind them.
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The crisis of 2022 and 2023 has taken its toll on the startup scene. Now that investments are harder to come by, working on branding and marketing has become more difficult. The winners of this development are sectors in which startups always had to work without large investments, above all the food sector.
As in the previous year, „share“ once again landed in first place. It is also clear that brands that demand little from consumers financially are currently enjoying a boom. Larger expenses such as travel or long-term topics such as finance, on the other hand, are hardly represented in the top 50.
Outcome
Falling spending power. Rising desire to consume.
Consumers are cutting back in many areas, but it is precisely this behaviour that seems to increase the desirability of some products. Overall, we are seeing a slight upward trend in the brand image across all sectors.
Bad times. Good food.
Food brands are the big winners in this year’s ranking. They perform best of all. Our theory: those who save money by not eating out have a bigger budget for a well-stocked fridge.
Little demand. Big love.
Brands that demand little from consumers are particularly booming at the present time. Meanwhile, major purchases on things such as travel or long-term matters such as finances are barely represented in the top 50.
New brands. Old customers.
Some strong start-up brands appeal to a broad audience and have a comparatively conservative image. Rank positions that amaze trend-oriented urban dwellers have their origins here.
Same problem. Different solution.
If the market is big enough, start-ups offering similar products can coexist. It is important to note here that each product should make a clear brand promise in order to appeal to different market segments.
In our deep dives we take a closer look at the categories, that have been performing especially well or especially badly this year. While we can see that food and care lead the ranking and take the majority of the upper ranks, there are other categories who nearly vanished.
Fintech brands for example, with a few exceptions, didn’t make the Top 50 this year. Mobility on the other hand still takes some ranks, but also seems to be having hard times among consumers. Read more about the reasons behind this development in the full version of our paper.
