SAMSUNG has created the most positive noise amongst residents in Saudi Arabia for the third consecutive year, according to YouGov's 2014 Annual BrandIndex Rankings. Standing strong in the Kingdom's increasingly competitive brand landscape, the South Korean electronics giant has been at the top of the Buzz leaderboard since 2012 and shows no signs of wavering with a score of 50.4, the highest Buzz score for 2014. BrandIndex tracks over 400 brands across multiple sectors in Saudi Arabia, and is the first and only daily measure of brand perception among the public in the Middle East. Rankings are created using BrandIndex's Buzz score, which is calculated by asking respondents if they have ‘heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word-of-mouth'.
Closing the gap in their quest for leadership in the Kingdom however is Apple, a new entry into the top 10 straight into third position with a score of 41.6, behind non-mover Google who scored 50.2 at the close of 2014. Samsung's close competitor Apple, announced the opening of its first new generation stores in Saudi Arabia last year, and remains a brand to watch in the coming months.
FIFA World Cup sponsor Visa, made another pronounced entry into the Saudi Arabia Annual BrandIndex Buzz Rankings with a score of 37.3. Entering in fourth position at the close of 2014, the brand has been raising awareness for themselves amongst the furor of football, a popular sport in the Kingdom.
Food and beverage favorites Almarai and Galaxy remain in the top 10 but have slipped down the ranks, by two and five places respectively, since 2013. Despite a decline in score from 48.9 (2013) to 36.5 (2014) Al Baik is also withstanding the dominance of the technology-based powerhouses remaining a non-mover at five. 2014 saw the Kingdom's most popular fast food chain announce a new joint venture to open more restaurants in the region.
There was a drop in rank for Sony at the close of last year, whose score slipped from 46.7 (2013) to 33.3 (2014), in eighth position. Data hack stories may have dented Buzz for the leading electronics brand, however a series of technology innovations in the past 12 months, and sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup has kept it in a positive light amongst consumers.
The Middle East's foremost luxury fragrance house jumped into the BrandIndex Annual Rankings as a new entry in ninth place with a score of 33.1, pushing favorite local channel Al Al-Quran Al Kareem down to 10th position with a score of 30.8 (versus 39.2 in 2013). Arabian Oud announced its number one rank in the ‘Top Facebook Page - Retail Sector' by the Social Watchlist, the body that monitors official Facebook pages across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), beating several leading brands in the region. Since YouGov's release of Saudi Arabia's Mid-Year BrandIndex Buzz Rankings in June 2014, all the brands in the top 10 have continued to capture the most attention from residents across Saudi Arabia, maintaining their seats in the Rankings at the close of the year. Smartphone usage in the region is evidently providing a platform for technology-based brands to gain their share of positive sentiment, however everyday household favorites are still demonstrating their Buzz weight in the Kingdom. — SG
