Survey looks at `share of mind' for popular brands

To develop top brands in the minds of consumers, business operators should put more effort into building up "share of mind" instead of just working to boost market share, according to a survey released yesterday by the Chinese-language Marketing Magazine (突破雜誌).

"Consumers usually do not purchase brands they hardly know or remember," said Frank Hung (洪良浩), publisher of Marketing Magazine, a monthly publication put out by Harvard Management Service Inc (哈佛企管).

The survey of 1,200 people in Taiwan, conducted between Oct. 15 and Nov. 30, showed that some brands have overwhelming "share of mind," with the brands in second or third places lagging far behind.

"A ranking of brands according to customers' intuitional responses gives insight into each brand's position in consumers' minds," Hung said.

7-Eleven, for example, leads the convenience store sector with an 81.4 percent "share of mind" while FamilyMart (全家) has 10.3 percent and HiLife (萊爾富) has only 4.1 percent, according to the survey.

"Based on Lanchester's Law, a brand having over 67 percent of market share has a secure position in the industry," said Betsy Fan (范碧珍), the magazine's associate editor in chief. "7-Eleven has a dominating advantage in the convenience store sector."

The annual survey of the top brands in consumers' minds was first conducted by the magazine 19 years ago. This year, the survey covered brands in 103 industries, including services, food, home appliances and high-tech products.

Some new brands, including Master Kang (康師傅) instant noodles and Apple Daily (蘋果日報), nudged their way into the top three spots this year for the first time, thanks to their huge budgets for promotion and marketing strategies designed to strengthen their brands, the survey said.

The survey also showed a trend toward local brands and away from foreign brands. The highest proportion of high-ranking foreign brands came in 2002, when they hit 63 percent. Foreign brands dropped to 56.3 percent this year.

"Foreign brands have powerful international marketing resources and experience in advertising to help embed their brands' images in consumers' minds," Fang said, "but efforts by local brands to get in direct touch with customers have paid off."

Kuo Yuan Ye Foods (郭元益食品), the 137-year-old wedding-cake maker which has won first place in its sector for two years in a row, said the company's success did not come about for no reason.

"We conducted a series of restructuring moves in both internal organization and external image in 2000 after encountering operational problems," said Chen Yuan-tsai (陳原財), a marketing manager at Kuo Yuan Ye.

After the restructuring, the 31-outlet company saw its sales reach NT$11 billion this year, up from NT$800 million three years ago.

"Consumers don't give second chances to brands they are not satisfied with," Chen said. "Business operators must bear in mind that constant innovation in product and service quality helps brands stay competitive in the market."

Though each brand's "share of mind" as reflected in the survey might not necessarily align with its market share, Hung said the report is a helpful tool for business operators who want to find out about their target segments and formulate a marketing strategy.