KLA announces winners for 2023 Q1 Quarterly Buzz

Quarterly Buzz is powered by YouGov’s BrandIndex tool which continuously measures the public’s perception of more than 190 brands across seven sectors in South Africa. It tracks the top 10 performing brands across all sectors as well as the top five brands within each sector.

The BrandIndex tool works across 16 metrics that cover the marketing funnel. One of these metrics is the Buzz metric, hence the name Quarterly Buzz. The Buzz metric specifically measures consumer perception - whether consumers have heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the past two weeks. The performance score achieved can range from +100 to -100 with a net score indicative of a brand’s overall performance relative to other brands. These scores are tallied up over a three-month period for the Quarterly Buzz results.

“This insight, along with greater depth of the other metrics tracked, aims to support marketers in making informed decisions about their brands that feed into marketing strategies and brand positioning,” says Rakhee Naik, managing consultant of Insights at KLA.

The top performing brands across all sectors in Q1.

In the latest Quarterly Buzz, telecommunications and fuel brands are a new feature. However, grocery retailers continue to feature prominently with four brands, namely Woolworths, Checkers, Pick n Pay and Shoprite in the top 10. Takealot (specifically the automotive department that includes the sale of car accessories) and Woolworths Food continue to dominate this quarter.
While maintaining performance, both Takealot and Woolworths Food experienced a gradual softening on Buzz performance this quarter. Takealot declined on ‘reputation and consideration’, with a slide across all 16 metrics, while Woolworths Food was down on ‘ad awareness and quality’ perceptions, but up on ‘purchase intent’. Notably, a decline was seen across all the top 10 brands, with six declining on Buzz performance.

“These results are reflective of the tough economic environment that South African consumers are faced with, like fuel price hikes, aggravated load shedding, and the subsequent impact on the pricing of necessity items,” adds Naik.

Vodacom moved into the top 10 this quarter – it was placed at 16 in the last quarter, with a significant growth in ‘value for money’ perceptions.

Engen also features in the top 10, improving by 5 rank positions from the previous Quarterly Buzz, with a significant improvement in Customers Purchase Intent.

Sector specific results for Q1

KLA’s Quarterly Buzz brand winners present an overview of the current market landscape on the Buzz metric.

For more information about the Quarterly Buzz visit www.kla.co.za or contact az.oc.alk@seiriuqne.