Asia’s Top 1000 Brands: Sony tops in India, Samsung in Asia Pacific

Korean giant Samsung has come out as the No. 1 brand in the Campaign Asia-Pacific 2012 Asia’s Top 1000 Brands report, co-produced with global information and insights provider Nielsen.

Rounding out the top five in the exclusive Asia’s Top 1000 Brands report are Apple, Sony, Nestlé and Panasonic, in that order. Industry experts agreed that Samsung can attribute its success to being highly visible and innovative in the retail environment as it continues to invest heavily in marketing and advertising that pursues old and new markets.

“Samsung has a product almost everywhere you look, from mobile to appliances to cameras,” said Zayn Khan, CEO Asia-Pacific of FutureBrand. “They spend heavily on media, which helps the brand be even more pervasive.”

According to Nielsen, the brand spent about US$866 million on its advertising spend in Asia-Pacific last year (January 2011 through December 2011).

Other key trends to come from the report this year is that consumer electronic brands, for the third year in a row, continue to dominate the rankings.  “This is a reflection of the high involvement level consumers have with these product categories, especially handheld devices and entertainment electronics, in an increasingly connected world,” Therese Glennon, Managing Director of Consumer Insights and Innovation, APMEA of Niselsen said.

Another trend to surface is the fast rise of luxury brands in the rankings, indicating the region’s growing wealth and rise in disposable incomes, especially in developing markets such as China and Vietnam.

Global brands are also giving local brands a run for their money. As consumers in the region continue to become more attached to these global brands, many of the markets are showing a preference for these big brands that are perceived to be of higher quality, over local product makes. This trend also highlights a key aspect of the way many of these global businesses are focusing on Asia as a key region to drive their business growth as overseas markets continue to waver.

The growth in brand rankings is therefore relative to the brands “expanding their footprint and innovating to fulfill the demands of the Asian consumers, who are highly connected and desire quality with value,” Glennon added. “There’s also great consistency in the rankings from year-to-year for brands that focus on enduring product quality—a critical ingredient to maintaining long-term loyalty.”

The top-of-mind study, in its ninth year, targets consumers in 12 key regional markets in Asia-Pacific, covering 14 major products and services categories across a total of 73 sub-categories. The rankings were ascertained based on responses to questions that asked respondents to name the best brand that comes to their mind in a category. The results are then weighted to reflect the age, gender and monthly household income representative of the general population.

In India Sony came top whilst Samsung emerged third followed by Nestle. Rounding off the top 10 in India (in order of their ranking) are: LG, Amul, Apple, Big Bazaar, Maggi, Apollo and Cadbury.

The top-of-mind study, in its ninth year, targets over 4800 consumers in 12 key regional markets in Asia-Pacific, covering 14 major products and services categories and 73 sub-categories.

Consumers were asked to name the best brands that come to their mind in a category - the one they trusted the most/has the best reputation. They were also asked to name a second brand within the same category. Cumulative scores across categories for a brand were taken into account to arrive at the ranking. Results are also weighted to reflect the age, gender and monthly household income representative of the general population in each of the markers surveyed.

Industry experts agreed that Samsung can attribute its success to being highly visible and innovative in the retail environment as it continues to invest heavily in marketing and advertising that pursues old and new markets.

 “Samsung has a product almost everywhere you look, from mobile to appliances to cameras,” said Zayn Khan, Chief Executive Officer Asia-Pacific of FutureBrand. “They spend heavily on media, which helps the brand be even more pervasive.”