27 July 2015

Brand Alliance shares 2015 Asia's Top Influential Brands

Source: Brand Alliance. The brand gallery at Marina Bay Sands will be open till 21 August.

Brand Alliance, through its brand leadership platform Influential Brands, has shared the 2015 Asia’s Top Influential Brands, backed by consumer insights derived over 2013 to 2015.

This year, the scope of the Asia’s Top Influential Brands award was expanded to cover over 100 categories, ranging from food and beverage (F&B) and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) to financial services and property development. To determine Asia’s top influential brands, Brand Alliance combined research gained from field consumer insights, analysing the branding qualities, social listening and impact of these brands on consumers through face-to-face and online surveys with more than 4,000 consumers to assess brand favourability and top-of-name recall.

In 2015, Singaporean brands continue to dominate the local landscape. Household favourites such as BreadTalk, MrBean, NTUC FairPrice, Pet Lovers Centre, SK Jewellery and Jumbo Seafood scored high recognition and were perceived favourably by consumers. Other strong Singaporean brands to note include Tiger Beer, UOB Bank and Singapore Airlines, which are highly regarded for their market leadership on both regional and global fronts.

As a result of globalisation and internationalisation, consumers are increasingly well-travelled, with their rising affluence contributing to a greater exposure and acceptance of Asian brands. Based on the consolidated research results, market dynamics have also changed significantly over the past three years, particularly across consumer tastes and preferences, brand dynamics and country-specific brands. 

Geographically, the rise and growth of Chinese brands in Singapore have been among the most notable developments, from no recognition and recall in previous years, to becoming well-known by many consumers in Singapore. Some of these brands have become sizeable players in their respective fields, ranging from smartphones (Huawei [65.7%], OPPO [34.5%]), financial services (Bank of China [66.2%]), e-commerce (Taobao [51.2%]) and airlines (China Eastern [39.3%]).

Southeast Asian brands, particularly those from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand also made it to the list, particularly in the F&B (PappaRich [62.3%], Thai Express [80.8%]), FMCG (Julie’s Biscuits [76.3%]) and commodities sectors. In line with previous years’ surveys, Hong Kong brands namely Cathay Pacific Airways (77.1%) and Watsons (74.7%) continued to secure their leadership positions within the branding spectrum, with consumers holding these brands in the highest esteem.

“It’s not surprising that these brands are top brands in Singapore,” said Jorge Rodriguez, Director of Strategy at Influential Brands. “These results revealed that there is an evolution on consumers’ perception towards brands and their openness to embrace new brands regardless of the country of origin is greater than ever. The new generation of consumers are including a new set of considerations in their decision process including recommendations from trusted sources and brand credibility alongside the traditional considerations such as value for money and functionality. This is creating great opportunities for Chinese brands to reposition themselves as the new generation of regional and global brands. The Influential Brands logo represents a vote of consumer confidence and approval, as well as a testament to the years of efforts invested in building, maintaining and strengthening the brands.”

The study showed that brands with high recall and positive perception were united in their brand engagement approach. Where the variables were equal (for example, in the F&B categories: location, convenience and price), consumers gravitated towards brands that have built brand presence and likeability via channels of trust and products and marketing activities that meet their expectations. In categories with intense competition, brands with cross-generational appeal, for instance Old Chang Kee, BreadTalk and NTUC FairPrice ultimately topped their categories.

A firm advocate of celebrating brand excellence in Asia, Brand Alliance goes the extra mile this year to hold a first-of-its kind brand gallery in Marina Bay Sands Singapore, showcasing many of Asia’s Top Influential Brands as part of the consumer engagement efforts. Visual panels detailing the stories behind each brand are on display, with on-site Brand Alliance personnel ready to assist those who are keen to find out more. The gallery is open for free admission till 21 August from 11am - 7pm daily at The Shoppes at MBS Level 1 #L1-K1 (next to Carnivore Restaurant).


Source: Brand Alliance. List in no order of preference or ranking.