“Overall BrandZ ranks 14 countries, with South Africa having the smallest GDP of them all,” explains David Roth, CEO The Store WPP, EMEA & Asia Chairman, BrandZ and BAV Group. “But what happens in South Africa matters both in its neighbourhood and the world, where it plays an outsized role in the global imagination. That’s why we consider it important to understand what’s happening to brands in this unique market.”

Last year BrandZ released its first ever South African BrandZ ranking. In the 2018 list, Standard Bank leap-frogged the other banks (and brands) to be crowned the BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable South African Brands ranking. This year, Standard Bank has kept its position of South Africa’s most valuable brand, closely followed by First National Bank (FNB), Castle Lager and MTN. Standard Bank built its brand value broadly on scale.  Once again in 2019 financial services made up over 50% of the top 20 positions with banks leading the pack. Standard bank, Africa’s largest bank by assets operates in more than 20 countries and according to BrandZ boasts a brand value of $3.55bn. First National Bank scored extremely well in terms of experience—likely a reflection of its strong investments in technology following closely behind Standard bank with a brand value of $3.46 billion.

The Top 30 ranking reveals that the best strategy for building value involves trying to be different,” says Roth.

The only three brands that increased their brand value this year were Nando’s, DStv, and Capitec Bank.

The total value of the Top 30 Most Valuable South African Brands is $37.1 billion – a net decline that is 7% less than the decline of average brands on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. That said, top SA brands are fast outpacing the decline, and in terms of value per GDP, they are much in line with global averages for top brands.

BrandZ is often the first to identify trends and high potential brands in fast growing markets. In addition to identifying the strengths and weaknesses of local brands, in 2018 the report uncovered that homegrown brands needed to think creatively and innovatively to tap into the wider global market. Based on the 2019 research, key trends and findings show that South Africa’s challenging macroeconomic and political environment is reflected in the brand ratings. But compared to our global peers, South Africa’s top brands score quite well in two areas: meaning and salience.

One of the most interesting themes to emerge from BrandZ data this year is the role of difference. Brands perceived as different fell only 7% in 2019 (vs. 20% for those that were not). Being different is a major advantage when consumers have less money to spend.

These are the BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable South African Brands:

BrandZ is the largest global brand equity platform covering over 100 000 brands across 45 countries. The BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable South African Brands report and ranking, as well as other brand insights for key regions of the world and 17 market sectors, are available online here.

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