Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands: How meaningful difference and innovation are powering brand growth in Southeast Asia

The broad trends from Kantar BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands point to an impressive era of growth in the region. The value of the Top 30 brands in Southeast Asia in 2024 stands at $131.3 billion — a 10% year on year increase.

Kantar BrandZ 2024 Most Valuable Southeast Asian Brands is the second regional edition of one of the world’s most reputed brand valuation studies. Beginning in 1998, Kantar BrandZ tracks the most valuable brands globally, besides having several national and regional tracks which cover 54 countries.

In the second Southeast Asia edition, emerging markets such as Thailand and Vietnam are experiencing the fastest growth. With 11 brands in the Top 30, Singapore has a lead when it comes to numbers, but the largest share of brand value is from Indonesia at 46%. Financial services and telecom dominate the Top 10, a clear indicator of the importance of these sectors in powering Southeast Asia’s digital transformation.

Discussing the results at an exclusive launch event in Singapore, Kantar’s executive managing director Southeast Asia, Katie McClintock said, “This is a region in bloom. Five of the Top 30 brands have grown by over 25% in just one year — particularly impressive considering challenging macroeconomic and political factors.”

Why the most valuable brands matter

Kantar BrandZ’s Most Valuable Brands is tied closely to financial outcomes. Brands that make it to the list have three distinct attributes:

Meaningful: These brands create clear and consistent functional and emotional connections with consumers.

Different: The brands are seen to offer something that others do not and tend to lead the way.

Salient: The mental availability of the brands — how quickly and easily they come to mind when choosing between options.

Katie McClintock, executive managing director Southeast Asia, Kantar 

McClintock explained, “The most valuable brands build powerful connections, allowing them to create shareholder value. This helps them resist market downturns and recover faster from recessions.”

The blueprint for growth

Valuable brands are not immutable. Cheong Tai Leung, CEO APAC insights, Kantar said, “The power and depth of Kantar BrandZ database and insights from around the world and in Southeast Asia clearly shows that with the right level of investment and strategic focus, it is possible to unlock growth and create value in any region, market, or category.”

Cheong Tai Leung, CEO APAC insights, Kantar 

Creating a valuable brand requires several accelerators which work irrespective of whether the brand has a century-old history like Indonesia’s BRI; or are businesses that have emerged in the digital era such as Grab or Shopee. Jane Ng, general manager, insights, Singapore, Kantar drew attention to the recently launched Kantar blueprint for brand growth which clearly outlines three key accelerators for marketers to activate and maximise their brand's potential.

Jane Ng, general manager, insights, Singapore, Kantar

Increasing the probability of purchase by growing predisposition: Ng explained, “Predisposing people to buy a brand is about giving it a mental edge over competing choices, when a purchase decision is being made. There is strong evidence linking predisposition with greater brand value.”

Maximising the conversion of predisposition into purchase: In parallel, such brands can capture consumers who previously gravitated towards other brands. Ng said, “It is about being available and prominently visible at the point of purchase, with an optimal range of products and services to meet shopper needs at the right price.” This is particularly important in Southeast Asia, where research from Kantar reveals that 70% of consumers expect to access products and services anywhere and anytime. Ng added, “Consumers are creatures of habit. The best prediction of what they will buy the next time, is what they bought previously. Price has less of an influence on brand choice.” 

Mary Lau, managing director, consulting, Southeast Asia, Kantar

Strong brands grow by stretching into new incremental spaces: Addressing the importance of innovation and tapping into new motivations, occasions, products and categories, Mary Lau, managing director, consulting, Southeast Asia, at Kantar said, “Consumers have divergent needs, rising expectations and are adventurous and experimental. The digital world has made them aware of different possibilities and they demand that brands in our region deliver locally.”

How Tiger harnessed innovation to grow

Keynote speaker Satadru Bagchi, head of innovation APAC, The Heineken Company shared how the company’s flagship Tiger came to be ranked among Southeast Asia’s Top 30 Brands, highlighting the importance of innovation. He noted that “Innovation is something that differentiates a leader brand in a market from a follower.”

Satadru Bagchi, head of innovation APAC, The Heineken Company

Giving insights into The Heineken Company’s innovation strategy and hub-based organisational approach, Bagchi shared that its success lies in the ability to operationalise. He also shared key innovation principles of being first or best, being consumer first, culture inspired, and deploying technological tools to test for agility and speed. He said, “Innovation is not just the job of innovators in an organisation. It starts from an innovative culture. Radical collaboration is [Heineken’s] mantra; what’s most important is that everyone needs to come together to build an innovative organisation.”  

 How innovation can help create meaningful differentiation

(From left to right: Priya Dudeja, head of creative, insights, Singapore, Kantar; David Beal, global CMO and head of digital marketing, Jollibee Foods Corporation; Armand W Hartono, deputy president director PT. Bank Central Asia (BCA); Valerie Thill, senior director snacking AMEA, Mondelez; Kam Leong Tai, chief sales and marketing officer, Astro Malaysia)   

The best and most appropriate innovative approaches dominated the group discussion that followed Bagchi’s presentation. Moderated by Priya Dudeja, head of creative, insights, Singapore, Kantar, the panel was clear that the challenge of innovation lies in continuing to grow and expand, even when a brand is looking to consolidate its position.

Astro Malaysia’s chief sales and marketing officer, Kam Leong Tai believed that in a brand’s quest for the top position, an innovative approach must necessarily allow for misfires. He said, “As long as there is sincere intent, discipline in strategy, and commitment, there is every chance we will make meaningful progress.”

While acknowledging the criticality of innovation, Armand W Hartono, deputy president director PT. Bank Central Asia (BCA) struck a cautious note. He said, “We must be careful to avoid over-innovation.” Sometimes, not imposing innovations on customers was the best approach. He said, “Banks typically turn off the old apps, but we do not. We not only create new apps but give our customers options. It is troublesome to maintain, but the customers love it.”

Being aware of consumer motivations was another key element to an innovative approach. David Beal, global CMO and head of digital marketing, Jollibee Foods Corporation said, “When we tried to understand customer expectations on where they choose to eat or order from, the experience component drove a larger proportion of choice. At times, even more than the food. As a company that was really focused and passionate about taste, that was very destabilising.”

However, he believed brands could be built and scaled by rooting them in human truths. He said, “Regardless of where we are, some elements of our psyche are similar. In defining a core proposition, motivation, or value exchange, we seek to tap into an underlying ‘why’ that is as close to human motivation as possible. That becomes a solid foundation to build on.”

Valerie Thill, senior director snacking AMEA, Mondelez, was clear there was more to innovation than stealing share or creating me-too products — simply put "zag when everyone zigs." She concluded, "Innovation is a must for brands to stand the test of time and continue to lead the agenda in the long run. It is a mind-set and it’s hard work and the common thread is to shoot for category development. That means being obsessed with your consumer, aiming for product superiority,  making it locally relevant and adding a good portion of passion to it — and the magic will continue to happen. That's when you get meaningfulness, differentiation, and saliency in a powerful way."

The on-demand recording of the full launch event features the complete presentations from Kantar spokespeople, a keynote on innovation-fuelled growth by Tiger; and an analysis of the strategies used by regional champions such as Thailand based telco, ASI; Indonesia-based F&B major Indomie, and Red Horse Beer from the Philippines.

Sign up now for an on-demand recording of the full event