Infrastructure-like Brands Succeed in the Time of Pandemic -- Brand’s Strategy Survey 2021

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Nikkei Research Inc. released the 2021 edition of its Brand’s Strategy Survey, which measures and analyzes the brand equity of 600 major companies. This year, Apple Japan ranked first in the overall ranking. The top brands showed that they provide the necessary basis of new lifestyles, whether online or in real, being close to the consumers’ shifting emotions amid this everlasting COVID-19 outbreak.

Key findings

• Apple Japan ranked No. 1 for three consecutive years since 2019.
  Strong sales of iPhones backed by the expansion of 5G connections starting last year, and increased demand for iPads and MacBooks for remote learning/working, should be the reason for their strength. In addition, subscriptions of music and video streaming services are also growing, and the company’s constant motive in providing such new products and services should be another factor behind its high rating.
• Google leaps to the 2nd, gaining large supports from consumers
  With more time spent at home, the number of YouTube users increased significantly, and the distribution of various applications including COCOA, a COVID-19 contact app, pushed further its presence as a distinctive platformer once again.
• Microsoft, hanging tight in the 5th position
  Seating at the top in 2017, but soon mounted over by Google in the following year 2018, Microsoft has been somewhat struggling ever since (2018: 4th, 2019: 3rd, 2020: 4th, 2021: 5th). Although, not to mention its cloud presence including Office 365 and the advantages of having Windows as the most used OS in the world, the company is still maintaining its strong brand equity.
• Toyota Motor returns in the Top 10 list
  Toyota Motor was ranked 9th. After dropping from the top 10 list in the last two years, it has once again recovered its position. Toyota's strong sales in the U.S. and China, where a fast recovery from the pandemic crisis is seen, as well as the success in selling its compact car, Yaris, in Japan, should be contributing to the company's comeback.
• TOTO ranked in 7th, recording its best-ever performance in the first quarter
  As we got to stay longer in our houses, consumer’s interest shifted toward "How can I make my home more comfortable?" -- the demand for home improvement has surfaced. Especially, sinks and toilets, kitchen and bathroom products, such as touchless automatic faucets, have been favored. It can be indicated that the heightened hygiene awareness also backed its rating.

You can download the complete ranking at the bottom of this article.

Toyota tops the list for recognition in SDGs initiatives

This year, the recognition of the brand’s SDGs related activities was probed. Toyota Motor was the most recognized with their presence in SDGs, from both consumers and businesspeople. We can see the awareness growing alongside the automotive industry.

Observation over time

Since 2003, we have been tracking the brand equity of notable companies operating in Japan. Depending on whether that brand has a consecutive record (the brands are selected every year), we can see its trajectory over time.

We saw an interesting move in the recent years of two popular foreign brands -- Godiva and Disney.

3-year trajectory of the Brand Equity

Godiva has been constantly leveraging their brand equity in this couple of years. In 2018, led by Jérôme Chouchan, the president of Godiva Japan, they carried out a full-page advert on Nikkei newspaper for calling out to stop giri choco. The giri choco is chocolates given in workplaces and elsewhere on Valentine’s Day in Japan, rather not a willing gift to someone special who they love and care about but is more given in a sense of unspoken mandatory and obligatory. More recently, their “Want to know more about Japan” campaign, showing Mr. Chouchan visiting places and experiencing Japanese culture, appealing to the consumers how beautiful their country is and how Godiva is connected by the heart. As in the survey results, the “purchase rate” was up nearly 5 points from the previous year, with “loyalty” and “relationship” also showing an increase. In addition, some items in the “value of experience” had an outstanding performance, showing the strong emotional bond with the consumers -- “Makes me feel rich in heart”: highest among the 600 brands, “Makes me feel luxurious”: 2nd highest, “When purchased, it gets to be the topic to talk about”: 3rd highest.

On the other hand, Walt Disney’s brand equity is continuously declining over the past few years. Despite its presence of their distinctive content with new streaming service launched during the pandemic, it seems that it did not help push up the company’s position enough.
The survey results showed that “good understanding”, awareness beyond its brand name, has decreased significantly along with “sympathy”. Its power of “premium” (likeliness to choose the brand over price) also weakened.

Metrics

The Brand’s Strategy Survey is an annual online survey that evaluates corporate brand equity from two perspectives; consumers and businesspeople. Brand equity is represented by our unique index; Brand Perception Quotient (PQ) -- an evaluated quotation based on the following 5 indicators: [1] Empathy (Attractiveness for businesspeople), [2] Necessity, [3] Premium, [4] Uniqueness, and [5] Willingness to Recommend . The overall ranking is based on the “Overall PQ” score, a cumulative score integrating the PQ score of both consumers and businesspeople.

Methodology of the Brand’s Strategy Survey

Notable 600 corporate brands were chosen across broad industries. The 19th survey was conducted nationwide in Japan online through June to July 2021. Responses from a total of 46,480 participants for the consumer group and a total of 46,475 participants for the businessperson group were collected, respectively. The average number of respondents per brand was 780 people in the consumer group, and 770 people in the businessperson group. The survey measures various items including the key 5 evaluation factors that form the brand equity index (PQ: Perception Quotient), corporate brand penetration, brand image, attractiveness, contact points, experience value, etc. The survey is held annually for nearly 20 years since 2003.