SE Asian teens favour traditional brands

Habbo Singapore, the popular social network for teenagers, released the results of a global survey of teenagers' favourite brands in 2009. It reveals young Singaporeans favour Coca-Cola, Nike, Sony and McDonald's along with local brands such as SingTel, Channel 4, Silky Girl and Teenage Magazine.

The research also indicated that leading sports brands were losing their appeal amongst teens both domestically and globally. This includes Nike, adidas, Puma, Reebok and Nokia

The 2009 Global Habbo Brands survey polled 112,000 respondents, aged 12 to 18 years, from more than 30 countries. Compared to teenagers in Southeast Asia, Singaporeans were more independent and less likely to be influenced by their friends' choice of brands.

The research also revealed teens in Southeast Asia prefer brands that make them appear well-off, when this trait was compared with the global average.

Ken Lim, country manager of Habbo Singapore, explains: "These characteristics demonstrate that Southeast Asian teenagers are brand savvy and they like advertising. This generation has not only grown up within a digital playground, they are completely used to advertising as a part of life and they like it."