BUSINESS/BRANDS & MARKETING
Raheem Akingbolu reviews the 2020 edition of the Top 50 Brands Nigeria, reckoning that the rating of the Dangote Brand as ‘The Most Valuable brand’, confirmed that the brand has not allowed complacency to set in
Perhaps more than any year in a century, the year 2020 has posed more challenges and taught more lessons. As a result of the local economic crisis and Coronavirus pandemic, many companies crumbled while many brands failed. However, few dogged businesses that have remained strong despite the challenges have learnt new ways of doing business, especially in the area of customer engagement.
Expectedly, the tense business environment has also led to stiff competition in various sectors, with every brand attempting to rejuvenate and remain stronger than before. That is why more stakeholders appear to pay more attention to the activities of rating organisations than before.
One of such rating platforms in Nigeria is the ‘Top 50 Brands Nigeria’ that has, over the years, created a niche through transparency and consumers’ feedback in determining who does what. As part of the outcome of the 2020 edition of its annual brand evaluation, the organisation has identified the best of Nigerian brands. For the third year running. Dangote Group, a proudly Nigerian brand and one of the most diversified and fully integrated conglomerates has again emerged as the Most Valuable Brand in Nigeria for the year.
From Top 50 to Top 60
To commemorate Nigeria’s Independence Diamond Jubilee, this year’s edition was tagged ‘TOP60’ instead of the 50, as announced earlier in the year.
In a statement made available to journalists ahead of the public presentation recently, the Chief Executive Officer of Top 50 Brands Nigeria, Taiwo Oluboyede, said: “In this special edition of the annual top brands evaluation, I am glad to inform you again that Nigerian brands have taken the shine by maintaining their leadership positions. We are particularly delighted that locally made brands don’t just top the list, they also record the majority among the top 10, with 7 of the 10 brands being Nigerian”
However, the multinationals have more entries overall, with 52 percent, an equivalent of 31 brands out of the 60.
According to Oluboyede, this achievement by Nigerian brands is significant in many ways, especially as it reflects that 70 percent of the top 10 are Nigerian brands. “It shows that our locally made brands are constantly evolving and becoming more vibrant by the day. They have not relented in making attractive value propositions that endear the consumers to them, to the point that many consumers are now contended with Made in Nigeria, over foreign brands across many categories. This is a clear departure from the recent past.
“This also means that many great things are still happening in Nigeria, regardless of the negative press. Our locally made brands are standing shoulder to shoulder with the multinationals in their industries and they are emerging better in valuation and perception.
“Big businesses and widely acceptable brands are being built here, challenging the status quo and taking leadership roles across various industries and areas of operations.
“They are not just local champions; many of these Nigerian brands have also become multinationals, expanding aggressively across other African countries and beyond. You can see this in brands like Access Bank, Globacom, UBA, GTBank, Zenith Bank, First Bank, Dangote Group and others,” he stated.
Observers have described the recent development as a huge plus to the Nigerian business space and a strong point of encouragement to foreign investors that Nigeria still remains a top business frontier where you are almost certain of high return on your investment.
Detailed Analysis
In the details analysis, a summary of the 2020 report as published on the organisation’s website reveals that Dangote Group topped the list of the Most Valuable Brand 2020. This is followed by MTN, which also doubles as the Most Valuable Multinational and Telecom Brand.
In third place is Globacom, another proudly Nigerian brand. Glo made an impressive achievement this year by emerging top in the popularity survey.
The popularity test, which according to the organisation is done through a Top of the Mind (TOM) survey, is the first and most important variable in the annual top brands evaluation.
The report indicated that Glo achieved an 89 per cent mention from respondents during the TOM survey. This made Globacom, the Most Popular Brand in Nigeria 2020.
Coca-Cola Nigeria emerged in the fourth place and effectively topped the Beverages category, followed by GTBank on the 5th Place, topping the Banking and Financial Services brands.
The Banking and Financial Services had the highest number of brands in the top 10, with 5 brands. This is followed by the telecoms with 3 brands. Seven brands among the top 10 have maintained top 10 positions for the past four years consecutively, while five brands among the top 10 maintain previous year’s positions.
In the overall, 48 percent, which is an equivalent of 29 brands are Nigerian brands while 31 are multinational brands. The Banking & Financial Services had 14 brands, equivalent of 23.3 per cent, followed by the Consumer Goods Category with 12 brands. This is led by Dufil Prima Foods.
Conglomerates and Oil & Gas categories have six brands each, with Dangote and Oando topping them respectively. Telecoms and Beverages had four brands each. MTN and Coca-Cola emerged top in these two categories, respectively.
Construction Services, Electronics, Agriculture and Retail categories had 2 brands each with Julius Berger, Samsung Electronics, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc and Jumia, a first entrant topping these categories respectively. Seven brands made the annual ranking for the first time, these are Sterling Bank Plc, Seplat Petroleum, Daraju Industries, TGI Group, Transsion holding, Jumia Nigeria and AIICO Insurance. Julius Berger Nigeria Plc emerged the higher gainer this year, while 10 brands among the 60 maintained their 2019 positions.
Stakeholders’ Views
Meanwhile, brand analysts, within and outside the corporate Nigeria have commented on the development and concluded that it is a sign of better things ahead.
Managing Director of IMS, a Marketing Communications firm, Mr. Dan Esiekpe, said in seasons of despair, the Dangote brand has always given Nigerians hope of a better tomorrow.
“Guided by a patriotic strategy of import substitution, the Dangote brand has consistently demonstrated empathy for the needs of Nigeria by decisively moving to fill identified consumer gaps. With Dangote, it is always hope renewed for a better tomorrow for Nigeria,” he said.
Managing Director, Starcom/Media Perspectives, Jude Odia, said: “As one of the marketing communications Agency partners for Dangote Group, it gladdens our heart to receive the great news that once again The Dangote Group has emerged the Most Valuable Brand in Nigeria for the year 2020. This did not come as a surprise to us, but rather it reinforces their commitment to continually deliver best in class products and superior customer services to partners and all other stakeholders within the ecosystem. Having worked with the team from Dangote Group, we are constantly challenged by their professionalism, execution excellence and focus on achieving set business objectives at all times. On behalf of the management and staff of Starcom Media Perspectives, we say a big congratulations to the President, executive management and entire staff of Dangote Group for this great achievement.
They have continued to make Nigeria and Africa in general proud and we wish them well in the future.”
To a United States of America University Don, Prof. Ehiedu Iweriebor, of the Department of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies, Hunter College, City University of New York, Dangote Group’s greatest accomplishment is as the first African company to be the practitioner of the universal. ‘Global principle of successful national development embodied in the concepts of: Production, Prosperity, Power and Pride,” he added.
