ASIA'S TOP 1000 BRANDS: Samsung takes No. 1 spot in exclusive consumer research

Rounding out the top five in the exclusive Asia's Top 1000 Brands report are Apple, Sony, Nestlé and Panasonic, in that order. Industry experts agreed that Samsung can attribute its success to being highly visible and innovative in the retail environment as it continues to invest heavily in marketing and advertising that pursues old and new markets.

“Samsung has a product almost everywhere you look, from mobile to appliances to cameras,” said Zayn Khan, CEO Asia-Pacific of FutureBrand. “They spend heavily on media, which helps the brand be even more pervasive.”

According to Nielsen, the brand spent about US$866 million on its advertising spend in Asia-Pacific last year (January 2011 through December 2011).

Other key trends to come from the report this year is that consumer electronic brands, for the third year in a row, continue to dominate the rankings.  “This is a reflection of the high involvement level consumers have with these product categories, especially handheld devices and entertainment electronics, in an increasingly connected world,” Therese Glennon, managing director of consumer insights and innovation, APMEA of Nielsen said.

Another trend to surface is the fast rise of luxury brands in the rankings, indicating the region’s growing wealth and rise in disposable incomes, especially in developing markets such as China and Vietnam.

Global brands are also giving local brands a run for their money. As consumers in the region continue to become more attached to these global brands, many of the markets are showing a preference for these big brands that are perceived to be of higher quality, over local product makes. This trend also highlights a key aspect of the way many of these global businesses are focusing on Asia as a key region to drive their business growth as overseas markets continue to waver.

The growth in brand rankings is therefore relative to the brands "expanding their footprint and innovating to fulfill the demands of the Asian consumers, who are highly connected and desire quality with value", Glennon added. "There's also great consistency in the rankings from year-to-year for brands that focus on enduring product quality—a critical ingredient to maintaining long-term loyalty."

The top-of-mind study, in its ninth year, targets consumers in 12 key regional markets in Asia-Pacific, covering 14 major products and services categories across a total of 73 sub-categories. The rankings were ascertained based on responses to questions that asked respondents to name the best brand that comes to their mind in a category. The results are then weighted to reflect the age, gender and monthly household income representative of the general population.

The full ranking is available only to Campaign Asia-Pacific subscribers.