By Phesheya Mkhonta
Telecommunications giant MTN has been named the most valuable brand for the 12th time in the past 13 years.
This is according to leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance’s latest rankings of South Africa’s most valuable brands. Brand Finance reveals that the MTN brand is valued at E74.3 billion.
Notably, a number of multinational brands operating in Eswatini, such as MTN, Standard Bank, First National Bank, Nedbank, Pick n Pay, and Old Mutual have been ranked among South Africa’s top 20 most valuable brands.
Every year, Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the biggest brands to the test and publishes over 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance.
The report shows that MTN’s brand value continued to grow, recording an increase of 24% to R74.3-billion in 2022, with a value that is now 50% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
MTN’s total subscribers rose 6% in 2022 to 289 million, while the brand also saw higher demand for its data and fintech services. These were all contributing factors to MTN maintaining its stronghold as the most valuable brand.
Fellow telecommunications giant, Vodacom, is ranked as the second most valuable brand and has seen its value increase by 33% to R39.8bn.
Meanwhile, Standard Bank’s brand value increased by 27% to R29.7bn, which made it the third most valuable brand, and it was the most valuable banking brand for the second consecutive year.
Brand Finance said banking was the most valuable sector, up 28% in aggregate brand value, following a strong post-pandemic recovery in 2022.
“The combined brand value of the eleven banking brands included in the ranking, five of which are in the top ten, was R146.5bn. This is R25bn more than the next most valuable sector, which was Telecoms (with six brands included in the ranking to the combined brand value of R121.5bn),” the report noted.
Retail group Spar emerged as the fastest-growing South African brand, up 48% to a brand value of R21.4-billion, earning the number seven position on the list.
Meanwhile, the report listed Pick n Pay, which increased its brand value by 30% to R13.5-billion, as the strongest brand, with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 94 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA+ rating, amongst seven South African brands to achieve elite AAA+ rating.
Another retail brand, Woolworths SA (brand value up 25% to ZAR21.7 billion) has the highest Sustainability Perceptions Score in the ranking, 6.02 out of ten.
Sustainability perceptions value demonstrates the proportion of brand value that is attributable to Sustainability perceptions.
Woolworths has long been recognized as a pioneering retailer in the sustainability field. Stakeholders resultantly gave it the highest Sustainability Perceptions Score, which equates to R2 billion in value contribution to the brand.
Brand Finance Top 25 Most Valuable Brands
1. MTN
2. Vodacom
3. Standard Bank
4. First National Bank
5. ABSA
6. Woolworths
7. Spar
8. Nedbank
9. Investec
10. Mondi Paper
11. Multichoice
12. Shoprite
13. Checkers
14. Sasol
15. Pick n Pay
16. Sanlam
17. Bidvest
18. Discovery
19. Old Mutual
20. Capitec Bank
21. Castle Lager
22. Black Label
23. Sappi
24. Mr. Price
25. Medi-Clinic