Does your brand have ‘cultural traction’?

by Marketing ON 22 March 2013

Marketers are taking a new route to connect with consumers – culture. Many of the world’s largest brands are infusing themselves into or shaping culture, in a bid to achieve ultimate relevance with consumers and a platform for sustainable growth.

A study from WPP-owned research firm, Added Value, measured the cultural vibrancy of 160 brands across 15 sectors to establish which brands are winning the race for ‘cultural traction’. The research found the usual suspects, like Google, Apple and Coca-Cola, ranked highly, while uncovering a huge slide in traction for Facebook, a diminishing relevance of alcohol brands and the social responsibility success story behind Dove.

Culturally vibrant brands are those perceived to have the best ‘VIBE’ – a measure built from the brand’s performance in being ‘visionary’, ‘inspiring’, ‘bold’ and ‘exciting’. Great brands know culture is the currency of our conversations and invest in marketing to stay ahead of the conversation, Maggie Taylor, chief executive of Added Value, North America, says.

“Today, more than ever, it is critical that brands stay apace of culture,” Taylor explains. “Why? Because as much as consumers can tell you about how the world is changing, the world can often tell you a lot more about the consumers of tomorrow. It’s one thing to be a culturally vibrant brand in one part of the world; it’s another to maintain that vibrancy at high amplitude across the whole world.”

In Australia, technology giants Google, Apple, Sony and Microsoft took out the top four spots. eBay emerged as the top ranking retail brand, followed by Coles which outperformed rival Woolworths. BMW was the highest ranking auto brand, while Red Rock Deli beat Coca-Cola to the title of strongest VIBE for an FMCG brand. Facebook made the list at number 18.

Top 20 culturally vibrant brands in Australia

Globally, tech titans Google and Apple dominate the VIBE terrain – Google emerging as more inspiring and exciting, Apple as more visionary and bold. They’re joined by other industry innovators, Samsung, Microsoft and eBay, auto brands BMW and Audi, the 130-year old Coca-Cola brand, which proved age is no barrier to cultural relevance, and surprise entrant at number four, Ikea.

Top 10 culturally vibrant brands globally

While Google and Apple clearly dominate, signs of ‘tall poppy syndrome’ are seeping into consumers’ mentality with both starting to lose traction, particularly in the US. The two brands’ VIBE scores have slipped by 8% and 10% respectively in the US compared to last year.

Meanwhile, Apple’s main rival Samsung, fresh off a year as the world’s largest technology company by sales, ranks just behind Apple’s global VIBE score but is more stable across countries. Apple’s VIBE is being pulled into the stratosphere by the devotion it has earned in the US, Western Europe and Australia, the study found. However, it’s a bumpier road for the brand in Asia, and more tempered in Brazil too.

Facebook suffered the biggest fall in VIBE score out of all the brands surveyed – down 20% in the US – partly as a result of its troubled public listing and outcry over privacy concerns.

The study also found alcohol brands, despite having big budgets, sales and visions, are losing their ‘mojo’ around the globe. Whilst there’s no denying the size and power of the category’s leading brands, the study shows they’re traction diminishing as they face serious challenges to remain culturally relevant. Absolut Vodka was the highest ranking brand globally, at number 26, while Smirnoff, Heineken, Budweiser, Johnnie Walker and Chivas Regal also ranked in the top 40.

Dove, which soared clear of main rival Nivea and into sixteenth place overall, was called out as a success story in the report, ranking as the eighth most inspiring brand in the world thanks to its decade-long campaign to build self-esteem.

“At the heart of the top 10 is a belief in the freedom and opportunity to drive the human race forward,” the report concludes. “These brands inspire us to dream. They promote the art of clarity and simplicity. They use creativity to look at things differently. And just because they’re big, doesn’t mean they can’t down with the street.”

Harvey Norman, David Jones brands haemorrhage value as supermarkets top retail brands list

by Marketing ON 21 March 2013

Woolworths pipped competitor Coles at the post as the most valuable Australian retail brand, while Harvey Norman’s brand dropped a staggering 27% in value over the past year, according to a study.

Interbrand’s ‘Best Retail Brands’ report shows a shocking decline in value for home and office retailer Harvey Norman, whose chairman Gerry Harvey consistently voiced resistance to online retail in recent years, with its value dropping by 27% to bottom out at US$642 million.

Department store David Jones, which has also been slow to adapt to omni-channel retailing, shed value as well, down 9% to US$512 million. Woolworths topped the list coming in at US$4570 million – year-on-year growth of 9%. Its value was placed at nearly a billion dollars above competitor Coles.

Bunnings, at number three, Big W, in sixth place, Target, in seventh, and Kmart, in eighth, were new entrants into the top 10 this year.

A lack of creativity and differentiation has opened the Australian market up for international retailers and digital entrepreneurs, says Andy Wright, general manager and head of brand experience, Interbrand Sydney.

“Right now, Australia is ripe for disruption,” Wright says. “Global players are seeing the opportunity with the strong dollar, solid economy and Australian consumers losing patience and loyalty with local brands. It might sound extreme, but you can see the rise in parcels from overseas retailers coming into the country. There needs to be a response from Australian retail.”

International retailers Amazon, ASOS, Macy’s, Net-a-Porter and Wiggle are tailoring their ecommerce, supply chain and delivery solutions for the Asia Pacific consumer, creating challenges for home-grown retail brands, the report adds.

Top brands in other countries around the world included:

Walmart (US)
Tesco (UK)
Lululemon (Canada)
Oxxo (Mexico)
Natura (Brazil)
Carrefour (France)
Aldi (Germany)
Uniqlo (Japan)
Suning (China)
FairPrice (South East Asia, Singapore)
Lotte Department Store (Korea)

Interbrand’s annual study of what makes retail brands successful found there are four things that successful retail brands have in common:

Constant monitoring of customers’ changing needs: To stay relevant strong brands relentlessly pursue knowledge about their consumers and incorporate those insights into their everyday behaviour.
A culture of efficient decision-making: The pace of retail and customer expectations around speed continues to increase. To respond, retailers need to build cultures, processes and systems that enable quick decisions.
An understanding that experience extends beyond the store: Retail no longer refers to just physical stores, but the complete experience, from channel to service experiences to products. Rather than simply maximising stores at the expense of other channels, top brands think in terms of omni-channel touch points and optimising experience.
Optimise, scale and measure: Commitment to ongoing, meaningful measurement and refinement. The need to move quickly can cause retailers to lose sight of tasks aligned with optimisation, scaling and measurement.

Apple, Dyson top review site in 2012, Nestle, Dodo bottom

by Marketing ON 7 December 2012

Apple, Steelcraft and Dyson are the most loved brands of the year, while Dodo, Nestle and Australia Post are among the most disliked.

Based on over 65,000 reviews posted to productreviews.com.au this year, tech juggernaut Apple was the highest rated of the product brands, almost reaching a 4.5 star rating among its reviewers. It was eclipsed however by Booktopia which topped the retailer brands with a rating of 4.9 stars.

In the services category, Hire a Hubby won out.

At the other end of the scale, telecommunications company Dodo received a scathing 1.6 star rating while food manufactuer Nestle also rated poorly among the product brands on 1.7. Appliance brands Simpson and Whirlpool, as well as Australia Post, also made appearances in the bottom five.

The lowest ranking retail brands were dominated by deal websites, with Deals2U, Ouffer and Our Deal ranking in the bottom five.

In the services category, freight company Star Track Express was the most disliked brand, in a list which included fellow transportation companies Fastway and Allied Express and utilities Origin Energy and Australian Power & Gas.

ProductReview.com.au’s marketing manager, Samuel Williamson, believes any brand – whether multinational or niche and loved or hated by reviewers – needs to adopt a ‘caring and sharing, not selling and telling’ ethos.

“The online space is dynamic so it lets brands establish personal connections with individual customers, which is vital for building brand loyalty,” Williamson says.

“The need to listen online is more evident today than ever – in the past year we’ve seen a 38 per cent increase in visits to the site each day, and we believe this will rise in 2013 as consumers continue to trust reviews over traditional marketing messages.”

Productreview.com.au, receives three million visits from Australian consumers each month, who use it to share reviews and recommend or warn against products and services.

SAS, Google and NetApp top best multinational workplace list

by Marketing ON 20 November 2012

Information technology giants SAS Institute, Google and NetApp topped the list of the best multinational workplaces.

The list, developed by workplace consultants Great Place to Work, features a top ten dominated by technology firms, with the notable exceptions of consumer goods manufacturer Kimberly-Clark, hotels group Marriott, transportation specialists FedEx Express, manufacturer W. L. Gore & Associates and food and beverage company Diageo.

SAS pipped Google at the post for the top spot, while NetApp, Kimberly-Clark and Microsoft rounded out the top five.

Based on surveys conducted around organisational culture, the process whittled down 5700 companies across 45 countries to a list of 38 companies deemed the ‘best of the best’ for workplace conditions. The top 25 from this list was:

SAS Institute
Google
NetApp
Kimberly-Clark
Microsoft
Marriott
FedEx Express
W. L. Gore & Associates
Diageo
Autodesk
PepsiCo
Ernst & Young
Telefónica
Monsanto
Intel
National Instruments
General Mills
American Express
Accor
McDonald’s
Cisco
Novo Nordisk
Quintiles
SC Johnson
Mars

Study: Brand Australia’s decline continues, hitting 4-year low

by Marketing ON 25 October 2012

Brand Australia continues to decline on the world stage, slipping five places below its world-beating peak to sixth in 2012’s rankings of the world’s top country brands.

FutureBrand’s ‘2012-13 Country Brand Index’ (CBI), shows brand Australia declined in strength relative to other country brands for the third time since 2008 when it topped the rankings as the most valuable country brand in the world.

Canada, Japan, Sweden, New Zealand, and Switzerland, which topped this year’s rankings, all emerged ahead of Australia, based on perceptions of quality of life, tourism, business conditions, culture and value systems among 3600 residents, investors, tourists and government officials from 18 countries.

Australia’s decline has not been as stark as the United States’, however, which fell again in 2012, marking a fall from grace which has seen the country slip from first in 2009 to eighth place this year. The report identifies successive financial crises, a decline in the clout of Western values and questions over the nation’s public policy as factors behind its steep decline.

“Despite an upswing in brand perceptions following the 2008 appointment of President Barack Obama, attributes like ‘political freedom’, ‘stable legal environment’ and ‘freedom of speech’ have suffered declines in perception as the nation nears its 2012 presidential election,” the report reads. “Amid questions of foreign policy, the near-approaching ‘fiscal cliff’ and a staggering US$14 trillion national debt, brand USA is left to face its biggest opportunities and, possibly, setbacks during this year’s election cycle.”

In contrast, Brand UK, buoyed by eighteen months of celebrations and international coverage, rose two places this year to hover just outside the top 10 at number 11. However, the report warns the impact of the Royal Wedding, Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Olympic Games may be short lived. “While brand UK now enjoys some of the highest rankings in the CBI’s ‘awareness’, ‘familiarity’ and ‘preference’ dimensions, once the fanfare of the Olympics dies down and the ubiquitous display of the Union Jack fades, focus will turn to the United Kingdom’s uncertain future,” the report reads.

Other themes to emerge from this year’s study were the ‘hard benefits of soft power’ embodied by the social stability, freedom, tolerance, transparency and environmentalism of nations such as Switzerland, Sweden and Finland; and the ‘untapped power of the PIIGS’, which earmarks Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain as nations with rich cultural and natural assets.

Australia, which has ranked in the top 10 for the past eight years, came in between tenth and fourteenth place for the key major attributes of quality of life, tourism and business conditions.

In a new addition to the study, FutureBrand has published the Future Fifteen, a ranking of 15 country brands on course to transform the global landscape economically, politically and culturally in years to come. The fifteen earmarked for the future were:

Australia’s love affair with Qantas continues

by Marketing ON 3 July 2012

Love may not have been a word used to describe feelings towards Qantas at the end of last year, but the union squabble and consequent grounding of the airline appear to have done nothing to quell Australia’s love affair with the brand.

A study conducted by Square Holes research places Qantas as the fourth ‘most loved’ brand in Australia, up two places since 2010. However, while it remains one of the most loved brands, rival airline Virgin is closing the gap, having broken into the top 10 for the first time to place ninth on the list.

The study, which used focus groups, an online survey of 1,000 Australians and ethnography approaches to arrive at its conclusions, names Apple as the nation’s most loved brand. Cadbury rose up the rankings steeply to come in at second place, while Holden held steady in third spot.

The online survey, which determines the brand ranking by asking participants to nominate their favourite brands without prompting, may be susceptible to sudden changes if certain brands have engaged in particularly memorable or large ad campaigns, making them top of mind during the survey process.

Also in the top 10 of Square Holes’ ‘Make Love Not War’ ranking was Toyota at number five, Sony, which dropped from first place to sixth, Ford at number seven, Samsung at number eight and Coca-Cola at number 10.

Telstra and Optus which appeared in the top ten previously are no longer on the list.

Square Holes Managing Director Jason Dunstone says the most loved brands in Australia share two common traits – authenticity and relevance. “The research found brands with these traits sit most comfortably within the context of Australians’ busy lives and passions,” Dunstone says.

“It’s interesting to note that each of the top ten brands were perceived to have better products than their competitors but their communication, service and advertising are viewed as being the same standard.”

Australians are driven by connection with the people in their lives and new experiences, the research found, leaving less room for aspirational brands. “The top brands are seen by Australians to be supporting them along this path and are brands whose products they use regularly and form part of their daily lives,” Dunstone adds. “No aspirational brands like Aston Martin or Rolex made the list – perhaps a sign of the times.”

The research also found that Australians are most likely to engage with loved brands through their website, closely followed by Facebook. Most people would not engage through Twitter or an app.

However, when it comes to purchasing they move offline and still prefer the personal experience of buying products from the top brands in store, with four in five (78%) expressing this preference despite growing levels of online shopping.

Woolworths most valuable Aus brand, pockets of hope for decimated retail

by Marketing ON 12 June 2012

More than half of Australia’s top 30 brands registered declines in their value over the past year, with Harvey Norman and David Jones among the worst hit, a study has found.

There were clear winners and losers over the past year, Brand Finance found in its annual study into the value of Australian brands. Retail and finance brands bore the brunt of the tough conditions, with many in these sectors experiencing a 10-20% decline in the value of their brands, but it wasn’t all bad news for these sectors with standout brands performing well.

In the retail sector, Bunnings, Coles and Target showed that growth is achievable despite difficult trading conditions, notching 20.3%, 14.5% and 10.0% increases in brand value respectively.

Coles, valued at $4.7 billion, succeeded in closing the gap on rival Woolworths, gaining $597 million in value and moving up the ladder to reach third position. Woolworths, valued at $7.1 billion, maintained the top spot despite losing $504 million of value, prompting managing director of Brand Finance Australia, Tim Heberden, to point out three areas where retailers could step up their game. “Due to increased international competition and changing consumer behaviour, Aussie retailers are learning the importance of customer service, brand differentiation, and omni-channel strategies,” Heberden says.

Australian finance brands also recorded mixed results over the past year, but on the whole outperformed their global peers with six of our banks featuring in the top 100 of Brand Finance’s global list of the top banks. MLC declined the most out of the top 30 brands, shedding 25.8% of its brand value. Macquarie Bank and St George also experienced significant declines, but at the other end of the scale BankWest and ANZ increased in value by 16.5% and 9.8% each. The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) seized the title of Australia’s most valuable banking brand from NAB, increasing its value by $185 million.

Another brand value study, Millward Brown’s BrandZ, recently ranked CBA as the most valuable Australian brand on the global stage at $13.1 billion, compared to the $4.1 billion valuation given in this study. However, Millward Brown does not release Australian results or include all Australian brands in its global list, making no other comparisons possible.

Brand Finance calculated the overall value of the top 30 Australian brands at $51 billion, well below the value it attributes to the largest global brand, Apple, at US$71 billion. The researcher calculates a brand’s value by looking at a company’s market share, profitability, reputation and emotional connection with consumers.

Telstra held on to second place in 2012, gaining $294 million to reach a value of $5.1 billion, placing the telco on par with the once great Nokia brand in an international context.

The Qantas brand continued to free fall dropping below the billion dollar threshold, although this year’s drop of $108 million represents a reduced rate of decline.

Study: Big Aussie brands lose trust, PayPal to outgrow banks

by Marketing ON 28 March 2012

Many of Australia’s leading brands, including Qantas, Dairy Farmers, Dymocks and Meadow Lea, have seen consistent declines in trust over the past five years according to the latest brand strength survey.

The Brand Asset Valuator (BAV) report, which tested 1300 brands in a survey of 5000 Australians, found that one in five of the ‘leading brands’ tested in the study are losing their credibility with consumers. And in the last two years alone trust in brands in general has declined 22%, with financial services, insurance, retailers and utilities damaged by price hikes, confusing offers and lack of customer service

Director of Young & Rubicon Group’s Brand Asset Consulting, Keith Newton, says the credibility issues that have plagued government and big corporations have spread to brands contributing to the decline in trust.

“There are several factors contributing to this decline,” Newton adds. “Chief among them is that the bar for leadership has risen. And the need for innovation is too often sacrificed in the pressured quest for sales. Widespread discounting has also undermined what some brands actually stand for.”

Trust is only part of the picture captured in the BAV study and is ‘more exciting to client organisations and the newspapers’ than it is telling to Newton. The study incorporates four main pillars to evaluate brand strength, those of differentiation, relevance, esteem and knowledge.

The overall ranking for commercial brands in terms of total brand asset leadership, saw Google and Microsoft retain the top two spots and PayPal, Bunnings and Ikea move into the top 10, compared to last year’s results.

Top 10 brands in 2011

Google
Microsoft
Apple
PayPal
eBay
Ikea
YouTube
Sony
Bunnings
Nokia

Vegemite, a long-standing member of BAV’s top 10, dropped to 11th place in this year’s ranking.

Brand Asset Consulting also provided a list of brands with the greatest growth potential, which was dominated by tech darlings, Google and Apple who owned 12 of the top 20 differentiated brands (from iPhone to Youtube to Google Maps).

These brands show high levels of brand strength, while displaying relevant and clear differentiation – the leading indicator of growth potential according to Newton.

Australia’s Top 10 brands for future growth

Google
Apple
Ikea
PayPal
Youtube
Microsoft
Windows 7
eBay.com
Wii
Dyson

Brands that have a creative, visionary or pioneering spirit, such as Lego or Ikea, delivered well on BAV’s criteria, furthering the evolving trend of the dominance of the ‘creative class’.

The report singled out leading brands that have experienced declines in trust over the past five years, naming Qantas, Dairy Farmers, OPSM and Meadow Lea among the traditional Aussie favourites that have fallen on harder times. Kodak, Mr Sheen, Dymocks and Levi’s were also noted as brands that experienced consistent trust declines over the past five years.

The findings also show that retail is not the disaster zone it has been made out to be. Newton says that Gap, Zara, Lululemon, Abercrombie and Fitch, Strawberrynet.com, Victoria’s Secret and ASOS are powering up BAV’s brand strength axis driven by the interest of younger Australian women.

Microsoft falls out of favour with British consumers

by Marketing ON 29 February 2012

Microsoft has plummeted down Britain’s Consumer Superbrands index for 2012, dropping from number six in 2010 to number 45 this year.

The annual consumer brands survey, generated by 2,000 consumer votes on shortlisted brands, also revealed a drop in brand strength for rival technology company Apple, which dropped out of the top 10, falling nine places to number 18.

Rolex took out the top spot, while Coca-Cola and Google both crept up two places to secure a position in the top three. Mercedes-Benz and media outlet BBC rounded out the top five.

One of the best performers was British retailer John Lewis, which climbed eight places to sit at 13. Fellow retailer Marks & Spencer remained inside the top 20 but dropped from 11 to 17.

Four automotive and four household brands made the top 20, more than from the traditionally well performing categories of FMCG and technology.

Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of Superbrands Expect Council, tells Marketing magazine UK (no relation to Marketingmag.com.au), Britons are reaffirming their faith in many traditional British brands during difficult times.

“A Superbrand is one which constantly delivers excellence and quality, and this year’s consumer poll reflects this,” Cheliotis says.

“Both the British and international brands included in the official 2012 list are recognised both for their rich heritage and also their continued influence on today’s consumers.”

Social networks Facebook and Twitter ranked at number 35 and 134 respectively.

Respondents to the survey were asked to vote on a shortlist of brands put together by “an independent and voluntary expert council” while considering three factors – reliability, quality and distinction.

The full list of 500 top consumer brands can be found here.

Woolworths most valuable retail brand in Asia Pacific

by Marketing ON 22 February 2012

Woolworths has topped a list of most valuable retail brands in Asia Pacific released by Interbrand yesterday, while competitor Coles was nowhere to be seen.

The ‘Best Retail Brands Report’, which combines a variety of measures including brand strength and financial performance, valued the Woolworths brand at US$4.2 billion, almost double that of second-placed brand Uniqlo.

Harvey Norman, Myer and David Jones rounded out the top five with brand values of US$873 million, US$599 million and US$562 million respectively. Over the past year, the value of Woolworths’ and Myer’s brands increased, while Harvey Norman’s and David Jones’ decreased.

Coles, which is a consolidated entity, was not included in the study because it doesn’t release enough financial information to qualify for Interbrand’s criteria.

CEO of Interbrand Australia and New Zealand, Damian Borchok, says, Australian brands performed well on the study in relation to Asian brands which are only just beginning to use brand as a strategy in their respective retail markets.

“The general value of Asia’s brands are lower because it’s such a fragmented market and building retail brands in Asia is a relatively new thing,” Borchok says.

“For Australian retailers facing the toughest marketplace in decades, the study provides some clear signposts towards what will drive success in the future.

“The fusion of physical environments and technology will be key and winning retailers will place greater emphasis on customer insight and customer service. The role of the store will go beyond being a receptacle for merchandise and carrying out transactions; smart retailers are already working out that their stores can deliver memorable and engaging experiences that result in substantial commercial success.”

The top retail brand in Asia Pacific for 2012 are:

In overseas lists, department store Walmart maintained its number one position in the US, with a brand value just over US$139 billion (down 2% from last year), supermarket Tesco took top honours in the UK, valued at US$11 billion (up 9% on last year), hypermarket Carrefour topped the list in France, grocery giant Aldi in Germany and fast-fashion retailer Zara in Spain. All number-one ranked brands held onto their top spots from 2011’s ‘Best Retail Brand Report’.

Amazon maintained its position at number nine in the US, and was the largest riser on any of the lists, with a 32% increase to bring its brand value up to US$12.8 billion.

eBay moved into the top 10 for the first time in the US, while other big movers included hardware chain Leroy Merlin (France; up 22%), supermarkets Mercadona (Spain; up 22%) and Lidl (Germany; up 20%), machinery manufacturer Tractor Supply (U.S.; up 18%), and cosmetics retailer Sephora (France; up 18%).

In Asia Pacific, there were three new entrants in 2012’s list – Japanese department store Muji, valued at US$355 million, Chinese women’s footwear retailer Belle, valued at US$310 million, and Japanese home furnishings supplier Nitori, valued at US$275 million.

The report was launched with a word of advice for retailers – every channel matters in the new landscape. It names the need to be agile, a focus on the path to purchase, every brand is a story, leveraging design to build brand value and the promise of omni-channel retail as the most prominent global retail trends gaining relevancy.

Target, Home Depot, CVS and Best Buy completed the list of the top five brands in the US.

And in the UK, Marks & Spencer, Boots, Asda and Next rounded out the top five.