4As and Interbrand to identify top 30 local brands
The Edge Daily
Wednesday September 19, 2007
by Joyce Au-Yong
KUALA LUMPUR: The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents, better known as the 4As, and global branding consultancy Interbrand have launched a study identifying Malaysia’s 30 most valuable brands.
Malaysia’s Most Valuable Brands 2007 (MMVB) will also recognise the value of Malaysia’s top 30 brands as economic assets, said Datuk Vincent Lee (pic), president of the 4As, at the MMVB media briefing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
According to Lee, the country’s top 30 brands have a cumulative worth of RM56.5 billion. He said the figure was based on 2005’s year-end data, which was when the project began.
“We really need to grow the Malaysian brand and cannot rely on foreign brands alone. Three-quarters of the (economic) wealth lies in the West and, coincidentally, three-quarters of the world’s top brands are in the West.
“There is a direct correlation between brands and wealth in the country. Brands are the engine of growth and wealth generation in companies. We need to recognise (a brand’s) hidden asset value and take it into shareholder value and into GDP (gross domestic product),” said Lee.
He also said MMVB’s objective was to highlight the best branding practices and present the most valuable brands as role models for other companies.
“This valuation exercise will allow the top brands to compete more confidently on the world stage by leveraging on the strength of their brands,” said Lee, who is also the group executive chairman of advertising agency Naga DDB.
Lee added that MMVB would move or transform manufacturers and emerging brands from original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to original brand manufacturers (OBM).
He stressed that MMVB was different from other brand awards in the market as the results were not based on the number of submissions received. Instead, the research is done solely by an independent party, that is, Interbrand.
“Award shows confuse the market – brands that are unheard of are given awards. What is the basis of that?” asked Lee.
To make it to the Top 30 list, a brand has to be home-grown or be owned by a public-listed company headquartered in Malaysia for at least 10 years. As the study is based on publicly available information, either the brand or the company owning the brand has to be listed.
Andrew Marshenko, director of brand strategy at Interbrand, said the brands were valued based on three categories – financial analysis (forecast current and future earnings specifically attributable to the brand), brand analysis (a measure of how the brand influences customer demand at the point of purchase) and brand strength analysis (a benchmark of the brand’s ability to secure on-going customer demand, such as loyalty, repurchase or retention).
Interbrand had conducted similar studies in China, Singapore and Taiwan, he added.
According to Lee, 50 brands were selected initially, and the list was then whittled down to the Top 30.
“It’s important to understand that it’s not the position you’re in — a brand is an asset you have to invest in and the return on investment may even take as long as 15 to 20 years,” said Marshenko.
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