PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate to business leaders in the developed world that many powerful brands are rising in the emerging economies; to indicate how those incumbents' branding approaches will need to adapt as a result.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses empirical findings, segmentation into three accessible categories of fast‐rising brands, and third‐party research on the multipolar world to show that the twenty‐first century's “powerhouse” brands are as likely to come from emerging markets such as China, Turkey, Qatar, South Africa, and Brazil as from the USA, Japan and Europe.FindingsThe paper states that the dominant brands of the twenty‐first century are far less likely to be household names like IBM and Coca‐Cola and much more likely to be brands that today are relatively unfamiliar in the West – names such as SABIC and Emaar and Ülker. The paper argues that the rise of these emerging‐market brands will change the way that business leaders in the developed world will have to shape their marketing strategies over the next decade. The paper quickly establishes the range and pace of growth of emerging‐market brands and points out that business leaders today must think beyond old notions of developing markets in the BRIC nations – Brazil, Russia, India, and China, to consider fast‐growing companies in the “O” (for “other”) economies of eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The paper places the so‐called “BRICOland” brands in three categories: Emerging Giants – the industrial and conglomerate brands that are largely growing through acquisition to become major global players; New Champions – the brands with domestic scale which are venturing beyond their borders, leveraging cost and scale advantages to offer compelling value; and Arabian Knights – the relatively new, outward‐looking brands powered by Arab sovereign wealth and characterized by magnitude of vision and rapidity of growth.Practical implicationsThe paper's rich examples, together with its six‐step recommendations for managers of emerging brands, create a pressing case for careful planning by developing‐world executives now crafting their companies' global brand strategies.Originality/valueThis paper is aimed at business leaders of the emerging brands as well as “C‐suite” executives from the developed world who can benefit from clearly understanding how brand battles will intensify worldwide. The paper's greatest value lies in its many illustrations of brands that are rapidly rising to prominence outside their domestic markets.