What makes a brand work in Png?

A recent online survey to identify Papua New Guinea’s most recognisable brands suggests that traditional marketing techniques hold sway in PNG. But for how much longer?

Papua New Guinea website Skerah ran a survey on its Facebook page recently, asking its followers to identify the country’s “most recognisable” home-grown brands.

While the survey wasn’t especially scientific and was understandably limited in scope (you might recognise a brand you loathe, after all), it nevertheless threw up some interesting results.

Winner of the survey was SP Brewery, market-dominating manufacturer of the nation’s favourite beers, with the country’s largest bank, BSP, in second place.

Third was a brand ever-present in the nation’s supermarkets, Trukai, while national airline Air Niugini was fourth.

Naturally, the prominence of the top 10 brands in people’s everyday lives is key, hence the strong presence of major retail brands. Many of the brands have been around for a long time.

Several also have sizeable marketing budgets. The editors of Skerah made the observation that the recognition afforded to the top 10 could be tied, at least in part, to the amount of money the brands are spending on community-based activities, especially sport. Sponsors of the nation’s major sporting codes and events were prominent in the top 10.

While getting your logo on a team shirt is a time-honoured marketing strategy, many of the brands listed have strong corporate social responsibility programs, too, suggesting that the rewards for charitable works are not just in heaven.

It’s worth bearing in mind that this survey was conducted online and respondents could therefore