Samsung retains top spot in Asia’s Top 1000 Brands
It’s clear that Samsung’s highly transparent communications strategy to deal with the Note 7 fallout has been extremely successful. By unconditionally recalling the product, explaining what went wrong and detailing the fix, the brand helped to reassure consumers that future Samsung products would be safe. Robert Sawatzky, Campaign Asia-Pacific head of content
HONG KONG: Samsung has held onto the top spot of Campaign Asia- Pacific’s annual Top 1000 Brands rankings for 2017, despite a controversial year with the Note 7 and political scandal fallout involving top leadership.
The survey, conducted in 13 markets in association with market research firm Nielsen, ranks Samsung as Asia’s number one brand for the seventh year in a row. Apple remained in second place with an unchanged top five of Sony, Nestle and Panasonic.
Campaign Asia- Pacific’s head of content Robert Sawatzky, noted that few companies have the brand strength to survive a crisis like the one faced by Samsung, let alone the US$ 5 billion US dollar price tag for the recalls.
“It’s clear that Samsung’s highly transparent communications strategy to deal with the Note 7 fallout has been extremely successful. By unconditionally recalling the product, explaining what went wrong and detailing the fix, the brand helped to reassure consumers that future Samsung products would be safe.
“Proving the ‘ Samsung stamina’ that has ensured it remains No 1 in Campaign Asia-Pacific’s Top 1000 Brands”.
Campaign Asia- Pacific’s Top 1000 Brands survey explores consumer attitudes in 13 markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Research relies on a total of 400 respondents in each market, except India and China where participants number 800 and 1,200 respectively.
The study encompassed 16 major brand categories, from alcohol to financial services, and consumer electronics to automotive, and more than 70 sub- categories.
Aside from the brands topping the list, this year’s data revealed some fascinating trends.
These trends include the fact that Instagram is now ahead of Twitter, Chinese brands make the largest gains, led by Huawei, Xiaomi and WeChat, Coca- cola re- enters top 10 for first time in eight years, and quality and value for money are top factors earning brand loyalty
For one, Instagram now outranks Twitter as Asian consumers look for newer, more visual social networks to express themselves.
“While Twitter has suffered stumbles and key staff departures globally, including Asia, Instagram has been quick to roll out new tools and features,” says Sawatzky, helping to boost its regional popularity especially in markets like Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Popular with restaurants and retailers, Sawatzky notes Instagram has actively targeted small businesses in the region allowing customers to contact them directly.
Another major trend from the survey is the rise of brands from China. Huawei jumped 661 places to number 202 on the list, becoming once again the top selling smartphone brand in China. Xiaomi, WeChat, Haier and Lenovo also saw successful gains.
This year’s survey also saw Coca- Cola re- enter the top 10 for the first time in eight years.
Growing nutritional awareness and a push toward healthier food and beverage choices helped erode Coke’s brand equity over the past decade. But the cola’s new ‘one brand’ strategy, new Coke varieties and smaller portion options appear to be gaining traction.