An annual study looking at the world’s most powerful brands has determined that Lego is the world’s number one, beating the likes of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Red Bull and Ferrari to the title.

The research, conducted on an annual basis by Brand Finance, analysed thousands of the world’s top brands, determining which are the most powerful and which are the most valuable, with Apple, Samsung and Google the top three for brand value.

Brand Finance cited the success of The Lego Movie for pushing the brand to top spot for power, after it generated nearly US$500m (€437.6m, £325.3m) over the last year. Lego overtook Ferrari as the top brand, which dropped to ninth spot in the power ranking. The report states that while Ferrari still remains a very strong brand, its power is slowly diminishing.

Lego achieved its number one ranking by scoring highly on Brand Finance’s Brand Strength Index, which includes familiarity, loyalty, promotion, staff satisfaction and corporate reputation.

Lego has proved particularly popular as a visitor attraction, with the brand continuing to expand, the most recent announcement being the Merlin’s seventh Legoland Discovery Center in the US. Also in the last year, Lego and Merlin announced plans to open new Legoland theme parks in South Korea, Japan and Dubai, and has had a number of successful launches including the Legends of Chima waterpark at Legoland California and a Lego Star Wars attraction at its Malaysia theme park.

“Lego is a uniquely creative and immersive toy; children love the ability to construct their own worlds that it provides,” said a Brand Finance statement. “In a tech-saturated world, parents approve of the back-to-basics creativity it encourages and have a lingering nostalgia for the brand long after their own childhoods. The Lego Movie perfectly captured this cross-generational appeal. It was a critical and commercial success and has helped propel Lego from a well-loved, strong brand to the world’s most powerful.”

To read the full Brand Finance report, click here. To see the top 500 most valuable brands, click here.