For the first time in five years of its studies of global brands, a marketing research firm, Ipsos Marketing, has listed MTN, Milo, Close-Up, Coca Cola, Peak Milk, Indomie, Etisalat, Bournvita, Omo and Maltina, as top 10 most influential brands out of 100 brands in Nigeria.
According to the marketing research firm, the brands were selected based on market survey, carried out on 1,000 Nigerians to assess 100 brands based on various marketing parameters such as influence, trustworthiness, leading edge and corporate citizenship.
The survey, which was administered on consumers in Lagos, Kano, Rivers, Enugu, Bauchi and Abuja, saw MTN, Milo and Close-Up occupying the first, second and third positions respectively.
Other notable brands such as Coca Cola, Peak Milk, Indomie, Etisalat, Bournvita, Omo and Maltina were ranked in that order of influence and preference.
“Beyond our own measures, metrics and surveys, there were a number of other factors, very much related to brand influence.
“Influential brands invest and this investment pays dividends. A number of the Most Influential Brands have healthy media spend levels. In other markets, influential brands also show positive trends in share price,” the survey stated.
The report, however, added that each of the brands in the ranking is the only selected product in its market categories, except MTN and Etisalat, which operate in the same market category.
“For the first time in the five years of this global study, we traversed the length and breadth of the country to ask 1,000 Nigerians to assess 100 brands. We spoke to Nigerians in Lagos, Kano, Rivers, Enugu, Bauchi and Abuja, both males and females, aged 18 to 65 years. The selection criteria for a brand to make the list of 100 were based on media spend and also factors such as market share and penetration across Nigeria.
“What follows next is our Top 10 countdown of overall influence index score and the top three influence drivers associated with each brand. We also included some of our own thoughts about why these brands performed so well in this year’s study,” General Manager, Ipsos, Steve Spicer said.
While underscoring the heritage of the brands, Ipsos stated that all but two of the brands in the Top 10 were birthed on the other side of the 21st century, adding that these brands have been around for so long and have made themselves ‘part of the family’ that Nigerians forget that they are actually foreign brands.
It also stated that the top 10 brands are huge ad spenders, hence, bringing positive results to their table in the ranking.
“Nigeria’s top influential brands are all heavy spenders in the advertising and sponsorship space. They are spending millions of naira every year to continue to be visible to consumers,” he said.