These are the 15 most valuable brands in South Africa

BrandZ has published its inaugural list of the most valuable brands in South Africa, naming Standard Bank as the top contender – with FNB following close behind.

The brand equity database, has, over the last 13 years, surveyed more than 3.6 million consumers in 51 countries, creating 5.1 billion data points in the process.

The report, released by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown, reveals that the Top 30 South African brands show more potential for global growth than their counterparts in the Chinese and European rankings, despite having less exposure to global markets.

The 2018 BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable South African Brands is the inaugural launch of the BrandZ study for South Africa – ranking local companies through analysis of financial data from Bloomberg and Kantar World panel with the opinions of over 17,300 South African consumers gathered for over 506 brands in more than 35 categories.

To be considered for the list, the brands ranked must meet at least one of these two eligibility criteria:

• The brand was originally created in South Africa;
• The brand is owned by a publicly traded enterprise, or its financials are published in the public domain.

With a combined value of $42.6 billion, the BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable South African Brands ranking is notable for its diversity, covering several industry categories including banks, telecom providers, retail, insurance, fast food, beer, hospitals, oil & gas, entertainment and airlines, the group said.

The ranking reflects the brand touch-points of consumers’ daily lives in South Africa.

“The region is fast becoming a rewarding place to do business and the ranking flags the potential for brands to grow locally and globally. However, brands will need to work hard to stand out from competitors in a digital landscape in which offerings are increasingly homogenised,” it said.

Standard Bank is ranked as the most valuable brand in the country with a value of $4.8 billion (R70.6 billion), followed by a fellow banking group, FNB, with a brand value of $3.7 billion (R54.2 billion).

Vodacom claimed the title of most valuable mobile brand, ranked third overall with a brand value of $3.3 billion (R48 billion).

Castle beer and MTN round out the top 5 with a brand value of $3.2 billion (R46.8 billion) and $2.9 billion (R42.9 billion), respectively.

These are the 15 most valuable brands in South Africa according to BrandZ.