The Value Of Chinese Brands

Every day, you are in close contact with different brands.

When you get up in the morning, you may brush your teeth with Zhonghua toothpaste and make a cup of soymilk with Jiuyang soymilk machine;

In the office during the day, you use Apple "IPhone 4" to communicate with customers and use Lenovo's computer to browse the web;

When you come home in the evening and cook dinner, you will not only use the Shuaikang range hood, but also the Aishida cooker and Midea rice cooker

A considerable proportion of these brands are Chinese brands. With your use, Chinese brands are also growing.

Today, WPP's Millward Brown will release the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Chinese Brands (hereinafter referred to as the Top 50 Chinese Brands) list in China for the first time. China Mobile, ICBC and Bank of China rank the top three brands in terms of brand value.

It is worth noting that in 2006, only China Mobile, a Chinese company, entered BrandZ Top 100 most valuable global brands.

In 2010, seven companies, including Baidu and China Merchants Bank, entered the Top 100 BrandZ's most valuable global brands.

Compared with five years ago, the intrinsic value of many Chinese brands, including those on the list, has changed dramatically.

Value embodiment of local brands

On the list of BrandZ's top 50 Chinese brands, China Mobile's brand value is the highest, at $56.074 billion. The ranking is similar to the "2010 China Brand Value Ranking" released by Forbes.

In fact, before this list, several evaluation institutions have ranked the value of Chinese enterprises, but most of the rankings are only from the perspective of financial status of enterprises.

Tan Beiping, R&D Director of Greater China of Huatong Minglue, who participated in the survey of the top 50 Chinese brands list, told the First Financial Daily that the characteristics of the ranking of WPP's top 50 Chinese brands list are that, in addition to reviewing the financial indicators of enterprises, consumers' views on brands should also be understood from the perspective of consumers.

Tan Beiping said that the ranking is based on testing consumer Based on the quantitative questionnaire survey of the relationship with brands. "If brand evaluation cannot take the attitude of consumers as a key element, it is difficult to say that it is effective." Another feature of the ranking list is that it uses the "market-oriented" method to evaluate consumer oriented brands. For example, the ranking list evaluates the product brand "Dove" rather than the enterprise name "Unilever".

"This makes sense, because consumer preference and loyalty are targeted at the Dove brand, not the corporate entity called Unilever."

"The value of the brand is embodied in three aspects." Tan Beiping believes that the first is the intangible assets in the brand financial data, that is, the intangible benefits that the brand can bring, the second is the strength of the brand, that is, the strength of the relationship with consumers, and then the future growth potential of the brand.

When analyzing the financial data of enterprises, the focus is on the financial benefits brought by the brand itself. In order to avoid overemphasizing the importance of brands, it is necessary to set aside the revenue generated by tangible assets (such as machinery and factory buildings), and then allocate the total value of intangible assets to each brand owned by the company from the company's public financial data.

The second is to obtain research data on the relationship between brands and consumers. The strength of the relationship between brands and consumers is reflected in five levels, including consumers' awareness of brands, their relevance to consumers, their awareness of brand performance, the uniqueness of brands, and brand loyalty.

The third aspect of brand value is to consider the potential for future growth of the brand. In addition to discounting future earnings and predicting the brand's short-term performance through brand risk factors, the brand's consumer risk and internal growth potential have also become important factors to measure brand value. For example, BYD's growth potential is unanimously optimistic.

Local brands moving towards internationalization

Analysing the numerous brands on the list, Tan Beiping found that with the continuous improvement of China's international status, corporate brands containing Chinese traditional culture began to win local and international attention.

Among the top 50 brands on the list, many represent Chinese unique traditional culture. For example, Yunnan Baiyao, 999 and Tongrentang in the medical field have become the first brand of traumatology, the OTC leader of traditional Chinese medicine, and the first brand of traditional Chinese medicine by carrying forward Chinese traditional medicine. The philosophy of "harmony between heaven, earth and man" in Chinese culture has also been applied to some brand publicity activities. For example, Li Ning launched the "Heaven, Earth and Man" series products in 2009, integrating the competition and craze of sports into the oriental philosophy of harmony and calm. {page_break}
 

On the other hand, China's manufacturing industry, which is gradually moving towards the world, has begun to show its strength by establishing independent innovation brands. For example, BYD, the only auto brand among the top 50, takes "Build Your Dream" as the connotation of the brand, and shows the style and features of local enterprises carrying the dream of Chinese national auto brands. Another reason for its listing is its mastery of battery technology and the resulting growth potential in the field of electric vehicles in the future.

In addition, the huge unpredictable potential of the Chinese market has also become the foundation and foundation for some local brands to gain competitive advantages and show their development potential. Brands that have grown up from underdeveloped areas in China are getting rid of their regional image and moving towards internationalization due to their unique advantages in the low-level market, including more competitive prices, understanding and being close to local consumers, and improved channels.

In the ranking list, these brands include Anta, 361 and Metersbonwe in the clothing category. These brands that have achieved success in China's low-grade cities now pay more attention to improving their brand image and making them more international through brand communication strategies, such as using stars, sponsoring sports teams and sports events with high visibility, and seeking international cooperation (such as MTEE marketing activities of Metersbonwe).

Build brand like falling in love

Brand value is the core asset of an enterprise. So how to build the brand and enhance the brand value?

As listed enterprises, one of their common characteristics is their continuous improvement in brand value creation. For example, China Mobile spends as much as US $7 billion annually on advertising investment to maintain its brand, ranking seventh in the country (P&G is currently the largest advertiser of enterprises in China).

Tan Beiping said that brand is the impression of some products hidden in people's minds. Brands are sometimes image driven, like the beverage industry; Sometimes it is driven by innovation, such as the Internet industry or the technology industry. Enterprises need to attract consumers by providing high-quality products and services. Branding also means connecting with consumers.

For enterprises, the process of brand building is like the process of falling in love with consumers. First, enterprises should ensure that consumers know their existence, and advertising can help achieve this goal; Next, we need to establish a relationship between the enterprise's brand and consumers, and price factors will play a role in this part. Some consumers choose one brand and give up the other, the direct reason may be that the price is too high or too low, which does not meet their own positioning; The third is the performance of the brand. This is very important in any market. Brand performance can be interpreted as brand durability, reliability, and quality.

Next is the advantages of brands, which are different characteristics among brands. The advantage of a brand may come from the rational choice of consumers, for example, the service of one brand is better than that of another brand; It may also come from the irrationality of consumers, such as the advantages in image driven brand product design. A prominent feature of irrational advantage is popularity. The reason why many people buy a brand is that others also buy it.

When consumers find the uniqueness of the brand and establish a lasting relationship with the brand, they enter the binding process of "marriage", that is, the brand begins to gain high loyalty from consumers. In other words, after experiencing multiple choices, consumers will expect to simplify the purchase process, and then they will be more loyal to some brands and have a sense of belonging. For example, although other mobile phones have many similar functions, only Apple mobile phones have won the popularity of consumers. The reason is that consumers have established an emotional connection with the Apple brand. In the "marriage" relationship with consumers, brands should also pay attention to constantly showing their advantages and characteristics, otherwise, they may encounter "divorce".

"It's like a pyramid," said Tan Beiping. At the highest fourth and fifth levels, it is a reflection of the high intensity of the relationship between consumers and brands. Research shows that if the relationship between consumers and brands has reached a binding relationship, consumers are 10 times more likely to buy the brand than those brands at the first level.