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Tech brands leading charge at culturally relevant marketing according to new rankings

Big technology brands are the best at adapting to cultural changes with their marketing in the Asia Pacific region, according to the inaugural Initiative Cultural Velocity Index.

IPG Mediabrands CEO Leigh Terry revealed the top 20 brands according to the CVI index at the Mumbrella360 Asia conference, with Apple, Google, YouTube, Microsoft, Facebook, Samsung and Amazon occupying the top seven positions.

IPG Mediabrands APAC CEO Leigh Terry revealed the top 20 brands in APAC and Singapore according to the CVI

Other notable tech brands included Intel at 10, Uber at 12 and Lenovo at 17.

“We define cultural velocity as the speed at which a brand interprets and responds to the cultural data signals to improve relevance to consumers and drive incremental business growth,” Terry explained.

“We beta tested it in two markets last year, India and China. Off the back of that success and lobbying global for investment, we scaled it and invested in it to ensure we were covering most of the major markets across Asia and certainly our major markets at IPG Mediabrands.”

IPG agency Initiative created CVI to help clients understand their place in the marketing landscape, after extensive study and research in collaboration with Jonah Berger, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

However, Terry noted that one size does not fit all in Asia, with the Singapore rankings differing significantly to the regional results.

While Facebook, Apple, Google, YouTube and Samsung took out the top five local brands Changi Airport, Singapore Airlines and Singtel joined them at number six, eight and 20 respectively.

Changi Airport made the top 20 in Singapore

Ikea, Visa and Lego were among other notable brands to make Singapore’s top 20 which did not feature in the APAC rankings.

Part of the reason for the introduction of the CVI was that brands needed to be more customer focused and not just product focused, Terry explained. Having a diagnostic tool that allowed marketers to compare, score and better a score was essential.

“It’s always about beating your PB,” he said. “Healthy paranoia is a great thing for all of us to have. For anyone that is in the room who is a brand marketer or within agency, you should never be satisfied with where the company is.

“Here we have a diagnostic tool that allows us not just to compare results for ourselves but to discuss them within our own businesses and start to show the C-suite.”

Terry also landed a soft blow to the face of the C-suite, explaining that it was ‘criminal’ if they weren’t applying the four pillars that made up the CVI; innovation, sociability, responsiveness and agility, to their products or services.

“Personally I think it’s criminal. As brand guardians and business leaders, these are absolutely the key dimensions that are going to increase shareholder return and that is what the C-suite is in place to do.”

Top 20 brands in APAC according to the CVI
1. Apple
2. Google
3. YouTube
4. Facebook
5. Microsoft
6. Samsung
7. Amazon
8. Disney
9. Nike
10. Intel
11. Adidas
12. Uber
13. Mercedes-Benz
14. Huawei
15. Xiaomi
16. Alibaba
17. Lenovo
18. BMW
19. PayPal
20. KFC

Top 20 brands in Singapore according to the CVI
1. Facebook
2. Apple
3. Google
4. YouTube
5. Samsung
6. Changi Airport
7. McDonald’s
8. Singapore Airlines
9. Microsoft
10. Ikea
11. Uber
12. Netflix
13. Uniqlo
14. FairPrice
15. Starbucks
16. Nike
17. Visa
18. Lego
19. Snapchat
20. Singtel

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