10 most valuable brands in the world

Brand value: $107.4 billion

Percentage change from last year:+20%

Last year’s rank: 6

What happened: AT&T is the second telecoms company in the top 10.

Millward Brown suggests that one of the reasons AT&T outperformed its competitors was the quad-play — mobile, fixed-line, internet, and TV — bundle it offers, through the acquisition of DirecTV.

The research company also notes that AT&T formed connected car partnerships with automakers, including Ford, BMW, and Tesla.