Dangote now Nigeria’s most valuable brand

Aliko Dangote, Chairman, Dangote Group

Dangote Group (www.Dangote.com) has emerged the most valuable brand among the top 50 brands in Nigeria for 2018 which were unveiled last weekend in Lagos.

This is coming barely three months after the brand was adjudged the most admired brand of African origin by consumers in a brand rating coordinated by South Africa-based Brand Leadership in conjunction with Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

Brand Nigeria, the agency that coordinated the survey in Nigeria, in its report lauded the efforts of the handlers of the Dangote brand because this is the first time a Nigerian brand would be achieving the feat since 2013.

Unveiling the list of the top 50 brands at an event attended by top executives of leading corporate organizations in the country as well as stakeholders in the marketing and advertising industry, Taiwo Oluboyede of Brand Nigeria explained that 46 percent of the top brands amounting to 23 are Nigerian brands.

Giving the highlights of the brands’ ratings, he stated that Promasidor Nigeria Limited emerged the highest gainer jumping 15 points from last year, followed by the trio of BUA, 9Mobile and Olam all of which moved 12 points from last year, while seven brands, Conoil, Channels TV, Union Bank, Access Bank, Chi, Toyota, and GTBank maintained their positions.

He stated further that Fidelity Bank came as a first entrant this year and Stallion Group made a fresh return having exited before.

The top 50 brands in Nigeria, Soboyede maintained, are the brands that have succeeded in delivering their promises to the consumers. “They are fast growing in value and they are the drivers of our economy. The top brands this year are those that have been able to analyse needs, see opportunities by creating solutions to them and communicating same to the consumers.

“They have also become so good at it that the consumers often refer to them with the name of the need they meet that is their products or services. These brands have found how to deliver something special often times.”

Giving insights into how the evaluation of the top 50 brands was carried out, he said, “We used the Brand Strength Model Index (BSMI). It is a model that measures a brand’s ability to deliver on its promise to the consumers from the consumer’s point of view. The model uses basic qualitative elements and there are seven variables that go into it.”

According to him, the variables start with a test of people’s knowledge and affinity with the brands operational in Nigeria.

“We had a top on the mind survey where people told us brands that easily come to their mind or that they can recall. Other variables in the model are innovation. This is a test how innovative a brand service delivery is. Quality - this checks some factors that enhance consumer’s confidence in product delivery. Category Leadership - this is a classification of brands within their industry. Online engagements - this checks how active the brand’s online platforms are and how engaging it has been from last evaluation. National Spread - this checks operational presence of a brand across the country.”       

Chief Corporate Communication Officer, Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina said the management was not surprised at the ranking because the company has continuously deepened and delivered on its core values to be a world-class enterprise that is passionate about the quality of life of the people and giving high returns to stakeholders.

“And this philosophy is driven by values, which include customer service, entrepreneurship, excellence and leadership. In any of our subsidiaries, the focus is to provide local, value-added products and services that meet the ‘basic needs’ of the populace. Through the construction and operation of large scale manufacturing facilities in Nigeria and across Africa, the Group is focused on building local manufacturing capacity to generate employment, prevent capital flight and provide locally produced goods for the people.

“The expansion of our business, especially cement, which has operations in 14 African countries including Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, among others has added to popularity of our company and the products.”

It would be recalled that back in July, the Dangote brand came atop in the ranking of 100 best brands in Africa themed ‘Brand Africa: 100,’ the sixth edition announced in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The brand leadership in the ranking list said of Dangote brand that “Nigerian industrial brand Dangote is the number one African brand recalled when consumers are prompted about the continent (Africa) of origin while the South African telecommunications brand MTN is the number one African brand spontaneously recalled irrespective of continent of origin.”

The United States sports and fitness brand, Nike, is the overall brand in Africa spontaneously recalled by consumers.

The Brand Africa 100 ranking is based on a survey among consumers 18 years and older, conducted in 23 countries across Africa. The countries, representing all African economic regions, collectively account for 75% of the population and the 74% of the GDP of Africa.

African brands rose slightly to account for 17% of the top 100 brands in Africa, non-African brands retained their firm position in Africa with 83% share, Europe brands lead the table with 40%, North America  24%, Asia 19% and West Africa 6% with only Nigerian brands and Southern Africa 6%.

The top 100 is dominated by technology and electronic brands (29%), consumer (non-cyclical) (19%), apparel (15%), automobile (8%), food (7%) and sports & fitness (5%) as the top categories.