Taiwan's top 100 brands: Line, Taiwan Mobile, Rakuten among biggest gainers

TAIWAN's TOP 100 BRANDS: RANKING ANALYSIS

Among the biggest gainers in Taiwan's top 100 brands this year are instant-messaging app Line, ecommerce site Rakuten, mobile carrier Taiwan Mobile and appliance maker Daikin.

Among the top 20, only Line, LG and Nike which moved more than three spots. Nike moved up from 11th in 2019 to 8th, and LG reached 17th from 23rd last year. But the most significant jump still belongs to Line, which moved into 12th position from 61st in 2019.

During 2020, Line has been working to build its community by increasing usage time. In May, Line started its OpenChat function—an enhanced group chat feature that allows up to 5000 people in a group—in Taiwan, making it the fifth market to get this feature after Japan, Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. The function has proven extremely useful during the pandemic as people can share information online immediately. Line also released official emoji from the Ministry of Health and Welfare to raise people's awareness in May when COVID-19 was spreading.

Among the top 100 brands in Taiwan, the rise of sanitizing brand Mr Muscle is also not a surprise. As the pandemic spread, more consumers are purchasing the sanitizing product to keep their house clean. Taiwan Mobile benefited from the increased importance of connectivity to friends and loved ones, rising 103 spots to 60th. The brand recently launched 5G services and refreshed its branding.

Luxury brands also scored improvements this year, performing better than in many other markets. Cartier rose 22 spots to 49th this year and Johnnie Walker rose 22 to 79th. Louis Vuitton also improved to 91st, up 23 spots.

Thanks to the strict protection of the local government, Taiwan didn't have many severe cases of Covid-19. Perhaps this created the conditions for luxury brands to start marketing in the Taiwan market ahead of others. Cartier, for example, held jewellery exhibitions in two Taiwan cities during May, because Taiwan was a relatively save venue for exhibition during the pandemic. 

Among the worst declines this year, Japanese electronics brand Sharp and China-based smartphone maker Xiaomi. Sharp's decline mirrors the waning power of Japan's legacy brands that we have seen in several other markets this year.