Millward Brown Highlights Seven Key Lessons for Brands
LONDON, May 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Eight years of BrandZ Top 100 data shows how the rise and fall of key global brands are both a warning and a model to follow for marketers
A unique analysis of the fortunes of some of the world's most famous brands by brand research company Millward Brown has revealed seven key approaches that companies can use to boost brand value.
Based on the performance of brands such as Apple, Amazon and Visa over eight years of the BrandZ[TM] Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, these learnings demonstrate the power of the annual ranking and its ability to identify brands that are making waves.
The lessons, revealed in advance of the 2014 BrandZ Top 100 ranking launch on 21st May, the ninth annual release, are based on the fortunes of clusters of similar and often competing companies such Vodafone, Samsung and Nokia, and demonstrate how a brand and its portrayal via communications have been critical to company financial success.
The seven key lessons:
Lesson 1: Identify a human truth. You can rise incredibly fast but when you get it wrong you can fall equally quickly. Apple's rapid rise from No 29 in the first BrandZ ranking in 2006 with a brand value of $16.0bn to No 1 in 2012 with a value of $183.0bn comes off the back of a universal truth that people want technology to work simply and easily. By contrast Nokia lost its consumer connection at around the same time, thinking its then-superior technology would be enough to beat the challenge of the iPhone. It has since dropped from $44.0bn at No 9 in 2008 to $10.7bn and No 81 in 2011, exiting the ranking altogether in 2012.
Lesson 2: Make your own connection. You can go so far as a fast-follower, but ultimately to be a great marketer you need your own connection. Samsung has risen remarkably far and fast, and has had flashes of marketing excellence, including the recent Oscar selfie campaign. As a brand, though, it still has an opportunity to unearth its own universal truth. When it does, it should continue its rise from its No 30 position in the 2013 ranking with a brand value of $21.4bn.
Lesson 3: Technological superiority on its own is not everything. In fact it's not even 90%, because people aren't rational. The technological gap between Apple, Samsung and their competitors is fairly small, but their relative business fortunes have been miles apart. The significant difference is brand love and an affinity with consumers driven by Apple's and Samsung's ability to meet the needs of consumers in a way that is meaningful.
Lesson 4: International expansion isn't the only way to grow. Quite often leveraging your brand into other categories can be more effective. Walmart's purchasing power hasn't ensured a smooth global expansion and its BrandZ ranking has declined slightly over the last eight years, ranking No 18 with a brand value of $36.2bn in 2013. Other retail brands have driven brand growth by expanding their footprint into other categories, most notably with Amazon's stretch from books to appliances to universal retailer.
Lesson 5: Disruptive innovation and reinventing yourself drives tremendous growth in almost every market. Disruptive innovation is the spiritual heartland of Amazon, which has changed the way we buy everything from entertainment to appliances, and in the process moved from No 92 in 2007 to No 14 and a brand value of $45.7bn in 2013. Other brands have also taken a similar path, including Vodafone, which is now moving from a provider of mobile services to a rounded broadcast provider focused on Europe and BT, entering the ranking at No 94 in 2013 and storming up as a result of successful expansion beyond calls and lines into broadband, television and finally entertainment and sports.
Lesson 6: Often your competitors aren't who you think. The success of Visa and MasterCard demonstrates that brands compete not only against those that provide the same services. Quite often, key competitors come from areas where they can provide substitute services and products. For Visa, MasterCard and American Express, the common enemy over the past few decades has been cash and cheques; however slowly but surely, both are becoming less important. Visa has been particularly successful in gaining traction, moving from No 36 and $16.3bn in 2009 to a spot in the BrandZ 2013 top 10, at No 9, with a value of $56.1bn.
Lesson 7: Learn to live locally. Simply because you are from one country doesn't mean you can't also be a local brand in another. Some of the most iconic American brands such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola have successfully transcended their origins to become global brands that feel local around the world. McDonald's and Coke have become part of the community wherever they operate and connect via their universal truths such as Coke's Happiness message. This strategy has helped both brands retain top 10 positions (and further gain places) even as the brand value required to stay in the top 10 has increased by 18%.
"Smart marketers seek to learn from the successes of their peers and avoid the failings of brands that have ceased to be as effective. This analysis of BrandZ Top 100 data over eight years highlights essential learnings that all brands need take on board. The path to brand growth isn't always obvious and marketers sometimes need to look beyond the day-to-day business to see the wider opportunities," said Anastasia Kourovskaia, Vice President EMEA at Millward Brown Optimor.
The 2014 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking will be launched on Wednesday 21st May 2014.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About the BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands Ranking
Developed for WPP by Millward Brown Optimor, the BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking is now entering its ninth year. It is the only study to combine measures of brand equity based on interviews with over two million consumers globally about thousands of global 'consumer facing' and business-to-business brands with a rigorous analysis of the financial and business performance of each company (using data from Bloomberg and Kantar Worldpanel) to separate the value that brand plays in driving business revenue and market capitalization. Consumer perception of a brand is a key input in determining brand value because brands are a combination of business performance, product delivery, clarity of positioning, and leadership. The ranking takes into account regional variations since, even for truly global brands, measures of brand contribution might differ substantially across countries.
About Millward Brown
Millward Brown is a leading global research agency specializing in advertising effectiveness, strategic communication, media and brand equity research. Millward Brown helps clients grow great brands through comprehensive research-based qualitative and quantitative solutions. Specialist global practices include Millward Brown Digital (a leader in digital effectiveness and intelligence), Firefly Millward Brown (our global qualitative network), a Neuroscience Practice (using neuroscience to optimize the value of traditional research techniques), and Millward Brown Optimor (a strategy consultancy helping companies maximize financial returns on brand and marketing investments). Millward Brown operates in more than 55 countries and is part of Kantar, WPP's data investment management division. Learn more at http://www.millwardbrown.com.
About WPP
WPP is the world's largest communications services group. Through its operating companies, the group provides a comprehensive range of advertising and marketing services including advertising; media investment management; consumer insight; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing and specialist communications. The company employs over 146,000 people (including associates) in 2,400 offices in 107 countries.
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