A further 27 brands were awarded platinum brand status, meaning that their total score was at iconic levels, but not across all population groups. Not all categories had icon brands, as can be expected, since not all consumers can afford all products. Ask Afrika has released the winners of 163 category winners.
"The top 10 were able to reinvent themselves by consistently, earning them the nation's trust. Although in some instances the product or service has not changed, it is the brand's positioning or marketing initiatives that are keeping it in the top position," said Sarina de Beer, MD of Ask Afrika.
Icon brands are ubiquitous and quintessentially South African. South Africans of all races, creed or colour, irrespective of background or living standard, use them. South Africans are committed on a daily basis to these brands. They vote with their wallets and their hearts in demonstrating this commitment. South Africans love them, are loyal to them and will even look for them when abroad.
"We live in a world where the only constant is change and life is ever evolving. The same holds true for not only brands and human behaviour, but in particular consumer behaviour. Spurred on by increasing competition, coupled with a volatile economic climate, sees brands - in particular big brands - no longer able to sit back and assume that consumers will continue to purchase their product simply because they always have," commented de Beer.
"Icon brands are those brands that remain consistent over time. These brands consistently create a relevant experience for consumers. Consumers are changing and this has many implications for brands. Brands need to adapt their strategies to remain relevant and foster an engagement with consumers on their current needs. All Gold, Huletts, Black Cat, Coca Cola, KFC and Dulux are the brands that have stood the test of time," continued de Beer.
"Winning status has the ability to entrench positive reputation both internally and externally as well as the ability to motivate staff and teams to continuously strive for excellence. These awards enable marketers and advertisers to showcase success within their industry and/or across industry, based on robust sampling and methodological execution. The newly defined 2013 trends empower marketers to create improved and strategic briefs to agencies," commented Maria Petousis, TGI director at Ask Afrika.
The TGI research sample used is large enough to be representative of the South African population. "Our inclusion of 8,000+ brands across 15,000 South African respondents, demonstrates the survey's credibility and robust brand tracking expertise. These are classified into 163 categories across nine industries," said Petousis. "Not only is it unique in that it measures actual consumption along with brand loyalty, it is also a valuable brand trend measurement. One of the new trends shows that winning brands have evolved from aspirational brands to inspirational brands - they are brands, which get their consumers to change their social behaviour into building our country.
"It's inspiring to see brands that are able to build loyalty with consumers in a time where consumers show less and less commitment towards brands. There is predominantly consistency in top 10 icon brands and interesting to see some newcomers to the 30 icon brands, as 33% of the 30 brands are newcomers. These include iconic brands within loyalty cards, coffee/sandwich bars, fuel providers, eggs, pasta, soup, pens, adhesives and batteries categories. "
Industries that focus on improving consumer's lifestyles are currently top ranking Icon Brand industries i.e. restaurants, fast foods, drinks, food travel and leisure. Twenty of the 30 icon brands have maintained iconic status from 2012.
The survey allows brands to benchmark amongst competitors within industry as well as across industry, relevant to various consumer experiences. An example of an icon brand that has changed its status from a potential platinum icon brand to an icon brand is BP. With insights gained from last year's icon brand results, it has been able to reinvent itself.
The survey delivers value through improved brand positioning. It enables insight for improved marketing initiatives and clear consumer-centric perspectives. It empowers a company's experience strategy to position brand, human, business and technology correctly. A valuable side effect is that it can give an organisation a framework to understand what features and services will be needed to deliver at the aggregated experience level.
"Today you are not behind your competition. You are not behind the technology. You are behind your consumer," said Rishad Tobaccowala, chief strategy and innovation officer, VivaKi.
For more information, go to www.askafrika.co.za.
