SA's top 10 most engaging brands revealed

}"Sensing, knowledge, understanding, integrity, connection, commitment, conviction, participation and advocacy are the nine pillars that underpin a brand engagement framework," Yellowwood group head of research Jenny Moore said, speaking on Thursday, 18 August 2011, at The Venue in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg.

Meaningful and focused message

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Moore said Pick n Pay's meaningful and focused message, including its championing of green issues, has succeeded in creating relevance in consumers' minds.

Coca-Cola, she said, has a strong social connection with communities, which is demonstrated, among others, by the way the company takes its brand to informal traders and deep into local communities.

Despite hardly popping up in most surveys, Clover is said to have strong brand values, strong emotional connection and a proven social advocacy, according to Engager.

Nine pillars

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The following is the explanation of the nine pillars, according to Engager:

• Sensing: using sensory branding (brand signifiers, icons, concepts and words) helps build rich brand worlds.

• Knowledge: integrated and consistent ideas that are big and entertaining, and close up and personal.

• Understanding: ideas that build the emotional associations, sense of momentum, and are persuasive.

• Integrity: prove that your brand can deliver on its promises - actions speak louder than words

• Connection: make the brand feel personally relevant

• Commitment: demonstrate competitive advantage

• Conviction: rewarding loyalty, helping loyalists to share the brand with others

• Participation: make it easy for people to participate and contribute to the brand

• Advocacy: make it easy for people to talk about and recommend your brand.

Engager, Moore claimed, has been rigorously tested and validated with over 250 brands, including in the UK, US, China and Australia, and among over 10 000 people.

"Not a static approach"

"This is not a static approach, but a multidimensional and on-going research," Moore, who previously worked for Millward Brown SA, FCB SA and TNS Research Surveys, said.

SA, a member of BRICS and Africa's largest economy, is the fifth market to introduce Engager.

The difference between Engager and other research models is that the former has the ability not only to tell marketers which brands are successful in a market, but also why they are successful, Yellowwood SA CEO Kay Nash said.

South Africans love shopping

Moore said the presence of retailers in the top 10 demonstrate that South Africans love shopping.

Despite the county's getting more and more digital, the absence of digital brands in the top 10 has been noted with some suspicion. But Moore explained that SA has not yet matured and still has to forge meaningful relationships beyond that functionality.

"The limited understanding and connection with these brands is evident across the board."

As the presence of the banking sector seems unusual - SA is the only country where banking features in the top 10 - she said: "Standard Bank has successfully built a well-rounded brand that engages consumers effectively. It has a well-balanced brand footprint using a combination of digital and off-line engagement."

Despite not featuring in the top 10 list, however, FNB sneaks ahead of Standard Bank in terms of participation, she noted.

For more:

• Yellowwood: Engager
  
• Yellowwood on Twitter: @AskYellowwood
  
• Twitter Search: "Engager SA" OR EngagerSA OR ywoodengager