Marketing Communications

SUCCESSFUL BRANDS 43

trustworthy. Both long-term support and the signifi cant contribution of communications

are important. Successful brands are not built overnight. Long-term communications, and

more particularly advertising support, are a key factor in the development of successful

brands. As already mentioned, brand managers are oft en tempted to cut investments in

brands to increase short-term profi tability, thereby aff ecting the long-term profi t potential.

A brand that clearly understood the fact that successful brands need to be differentiated and have high quality is

Hyundai. In its early days, Hyundai was perceived as a lower-quality brand. Taking Japanese automakers as an

example, Hyundai seriously invested in quality and kept making its cars better and better. In the late 1990s, Hyundai

surprised the industry by offering the best automobile warranty in the industry, a safety net that created consumer

confidence. As an extension of this value-building strategy, Hyundai introduced Hyundai Assurance Plus early in

2009. While other brands were competing on price discounts, Hyundai offered its customers peace of mind.
      Hyundai’s Assurance Plus assured the customers that if they lose their income, Hyundai would make instalment
      payments for three months while they got back on their feet. If this was not enough time, Hyundai would take back
      the car. The company broadly defined income loss as involuntary unemployment, physical disability, self-employed
      personal bankruptcy, accidental death, etc. Hyundai was not the automaker that enjoyed highest market share or
      highest awareness, but its value-adding programme did set the brand apart and had a positive impact on sales.
      After the introduction of Assurance Plus, Hyundai’s sales were up 14% as compared with the same period one year
      before. In fact, it realised the highest sales increase in the industry, and was one of only three automakers to make
      an increase at all.^12 Also, in the following years Hyundai made sure to keep on investing in quality and innovative
      designs, leading to a consistent increase in brand value. In 2011, its brand value increased no less than 19% as
      compared with 2010.^13

BUSINESS INSIGHT

Building a strong brand

Table 2.1 gives an overview of Interbrand’s 2011 ranking of 25 of the world’s most valuable

brands. Interbrand calculates brand values on the basis of cash fl ows. Absolute winners in the

top 100 ranking are Apple (8), Amazon.com (26) and Google (4), which respectively gained

58%, 32% and 27% in brand value as compared with 2010. Th e biggest losers in 2011 were

Nokia (14), Nintendo (48) and Sony (35) which saw their brand value decline by respectively

15%, 14% and 13%. Nokia hopes to counter this negative evolution by its strategic partner-

ship with Microsoft , while Nintendo is looking at a further take-off of the Nintendo 3DS and

Sony is betting on PlayStation Vita to turn the tide.^14

In 2008, Brandchannel organised a brand poll in which 4310 consumers from several countries participated. The

consumers were asked to vote for the brands that had most impact on them. Apple came out as an absolute

winner. Apple was judged top in (1) offering the best retail environment, (2) having produced the most innovative

BUSINESS INSIGHT

Most impactful and fast-growing brands

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