…MTN, Most Popular Brand

For the fourth time in a row, Dangote Group, a fully integrated Conglomerate and proudly Nigeria brand has again emerged as the most Valuable brand in Nigeria while the MTN Nigeria trailed as the Most Popular brand in the new Top of the Mind (TOM) survey conducted among corporate executives in the country.

In rating the brands, seven metrics were deployed, and they include Brand Popularity; Quality Element; Market leadership; Innovation; national Spread; CSR-Environmental friendliness and Online Engagements.

Of the seven metrics according to the report, Dangote brand came atop in five, beating MTN to a distant second. The ratings were made public, over the weekend, at the annual top corporate brand evaluation report by TOP 50 BRANDS NIGERIA.

The annual top brands league table which has become like a report card with which top corporate brands have a feel of their ranking in the market is done with a special purpose model, the Brand Strength Measurement (BSM Index), a model that tests a brand’s ability deliver on its promise to its consumers from the consumer’s points of view. It is a qualitative, non-financial evaluation of top corporate brands in the country which is done annually.

Taiwo Oluboyede, the Brand Consulting firm’s CEO in his address said, without any doubt, the subject of brand and branding has become central in every corporate setting. And regardless of the sounds of the time, the brand drives and determines corporate placement, particularly at an unprecedented time like these.

He said: “We are glad once again that a Nigerian brand emerged as the Most Valuable for the year. This says a lot about our tenacity and resilience as a people and our businesses, regardless of the situations around us. Even though overall, we have more multinationals, the homegrown brands gave an impressive performance.

“For example, 6 of the top 10 in the league table are Nigerian, most of which have also spread to other countries across Africa and other continents of the world.

Globacom emerged in the third place, followed closely by Coca-cola Nigeria who enjoys a lot of its global brand appeal.

Others in the top 10 in this annual ranking are GTBank, Airtel, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, First Bank, and Dufil Prima Foods in that order.

6 brands among the top 10 have maintained top 10 positions for 6 years consecutively-they are Dangote, MTN, Globacom, FirstBank, GTBank, and Coca-Cola. The Banking and Financial Services category had the highest number of entries among the top 10 with 4 brands. This is followed by the telecoms with 3 brands.

Commenting on the top brands ranking, Femi Awoyemi, Founder and Chairman of Proshare Nigeria Limited (Nigeria’s foremost financial information hub), said: “With the thorough evaluation process and degree of attention to detail evident in the report, the list indeed provides a true and fair representation of top brands by strength, popularity and potentials in Nigeria…This edition of BRANDNIGERIA’s Top50 Brands in Nigeria highlighted brands that have demonstrated strong resilience and adaptive capacity to the new normal in growing or maintaining their brands. These brands have been able to maintain consumers’ confidence and market shares as observed by professionals and analysts. A few things stand out.

“First, it is commendable to see that in the evaluation process used in ranking the brands, professionals such as Chief Marketing Officers and Head of Corporate Communications and Reputation Managers. Second, the acknowledgment of Financial Technology (FinTech) as evidenced in the top 10 brands to watch in 2021 where FinTech accounted for about 50%.

Third is the continued domination of the list of the top 50 brands in 2021 by multinationals, banks, and NGX quoted brands. Dangote came 1st in 5 of the 7 metrics used in the ranking report.

“Seven (7) companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) made the list of top 10 brands in Nigeria. This implies that about 70% of the top brands are listed on NGX, which draws attention to the correlation between brands and markets.”

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