(Image source: Millward Brown's latest BrandZ report)
The market research firm Millward Brown has just released the 2012 edition of its ‘BrandZ most valuable Chinese brands top 50’ report. It sees more Chinese tech firms that ever on the list, including well-known names in social media.
Indeed, some tech brands are growing most quickly in terms of what’s called “brand value” – that’s a measure used by some analysts derived from a company’s ability to generate demand, based partially on forecasted earnings. The report’s authors note that “this explosion of [brand] value suggests the enormous influence that Chinese brands exert and their potential impact on markets worldwide.”
One successful example is the local manufacturer Haier (SHA:600690; HKG:1169), who launched a mini-site about energy conservation to coincide with Earth Hour. Chris Maier, the research company’s director of digital media, notes:
Haier’s Earth Hour website received over 1.5 million visitors after only 10 days online, indicating the success of social media as a platform for Haier to spread its message of promoting a smarter life for a better planet. Importantly, the Earth Hour initiative is very much in line with Haier’s renewed brand positioning as a developer of sustainable white goods solutions and producer of environmentally responsible and energy efficient appliances.
It’s that kind of engaged marketing that saw Chinese tech companies do especially well in terms of their own brand value. Here’s the table (click the two panels to enlarge):
In the top 50 list (below), there are 14 tech firms; in descending order:
- China Mobile (NYSE:CHL; HKG:0941) in first place
- Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) in sixth
- Tencent (HKG:0700) in tenth
- China Telecom (NYSE:CHA; HKG:0728)
- China Unicom (NYSE:CHU; HKG:0762)
- Suning (SHE:002024)
- Lenovo (HKG:0992)
- Sina (NASDAQ:SINA)
- Haier (SHA:600690; HKG:1169)
- Midea (SHE:000527)
- Gome (HKG:0493)
- Renren (NYSE:RENN)
- Ctrip (NASDAQ:CTRP)
- Sohu (NASDAQ:SOHU), in 49th position.
Please come back tomorrow to check out how some of the individual tech companies have been boosting their brands this year. The full 55-page report – in either Chinese or English – is available from the Millward Brown BrandZ mini-site.
[Note: Your correspondent has no relation to the Millward Brown group despite the familial name!]