Brand Strategy Survey 2022: Apple, Sony — Companies
Leading EV and Mobility Are Highly Evaluated

Nikkei Research Inc. will release the 2022 edition of its Brand Strategy Survey. Measuring the brand power of 600 major companies, Apple Japan was No.1 in the overall ranking for the fourth consecutive year. Looking at the characteristics of the top companies, Apple Japan, Sony Group, and Toyota Motor Corporation have all increased their scores since last year. As each company continues to expand its business domain and collaborate with other companies, expectations among the companies leading the mobility industry have increased. With the alarmed attention over climate change and natural resource shortages, people have high expectations toward the mobility industry, where it leads advancements in digitalization.

Food and beverage companies whose sales rose in health-focused products gained higher ranks, such as Ajinomoto, Yakult, and others. The consumers’ awareness of disease prevention, such as improving immunity, built by the prolonged impact of COVID-19, should have backed those uplift.
A summary of the survey and highlights of the findings are below.

Survey Overview

The Brand Strategy Survey is an annual online survey that evaluates the corporate brand power from two perspectives; consumers (BtoC) and business professionals (BtoB). This year's survey was conducted from June to July 2022.

The Brand Perception Quotient (PQ), resembling the brand strength, is calculated based on five indices: “Empathy (Attractiveness for BtoB),” “Necessity,” “Premium (Premium over Brand and Price),” “Uniqueness,” and “Willingness to Recommend.

The overall ranking is based on the Overall PQ calculated by integrating the Brand PQ scores of both BtoC and BtoB.

Highlights of the 2022 Rankings

• Apple Japan ranked No. 1 in the overall PQ ranking for the fourth consecutive year.
  In addition to their strong sales of iPhone, the company expanded its market share by launching the MacBook with its own semiconductors, amid the global shortage of semiconductors supply. The development of mobility businesses such as Apple Car and Apple CarPlay, which connects the iPhone to an in-car unit, was indeed a hot topic.
• Sony Group, which increased its ratings in both BtoC and BtoB, became 2nd in overall.
  Business developments focusing on creating new social value, such as the launch of an EV sales company with Honda and the development on the metaverse, attracted attention. Their gaming and entertainment businesses also performed well. Their expansion of business areas aligned with the today’s trend seem to have led to their high evaluation.
• Toyota Motor Corporation made into the Top 10 list for the second consecutive year. Toyota was ranked 9th. The development of vehicles that contribute to carbon-free, such as the launch of new EVs and hydrogen engine vehicles, outshined. Automated driving and building smart cities, Toyota’s proactive works in new areas, along with the evolution of automobiles, has also impacted its evaluation.

The Features of the Brand Strategy Survey

• The survey measures the overall strength of a brand, the level of brand penetration, and the outcomes of corporate activities, and visualizes the structure of brand value by grasping the interrelationships among them.
• In addition to the above, we measure “sympathy to the corporate’s policy” which is important for evaluating the penetration and the empathic state toward the purpose of a company. Also, “price premium,” is measured for understanding the desire to purchase at a higher price than other companies. Furthermore, a variety of items are measured relating to today’s corporate issues.
• By comparing the brand strength with competitors, you get to know your company's overall brand position.
• By tracking the year-over-year changes, you would see the status of brand penetration and value transition.
• Analyzing a variety of evaluation items from various perspectives, leads to the understanding of who — what segments — matches your brand.
• Financial data (sales and operating revenue, operating income, overseas sales and export sales, advertising expenses, and market capitalization, as of the end of June of each year) are available for some companies.
• Various methods of analysis are available, including Bayesian networks and value chain maps.