Strong and consistent branding is not just vital for products and services.  It is also important for countries, helping them to attract visitors, businesspeople and new businesses alike to raise their profile and boost their economy.

In FutureBrand’s latest Country Brand Index (CBI), Singapore is the country in Asia whose branding efforts have really paid off this past year.  Moving up an impressive 11 spots, from 24th last year to 13th in this year’s overall rankings, Singapore earned top spot in several of the individual categories, including best country brand for “shopping” and “easiest to do business in”.  It was second only to the United States in the “Ideal for Business” category, and was judged as the third best country brand for conferences.

Other ‘rising stars’ in Asia-Pacific, according to this year’s CBI, include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), China and Vietnam, which were named as the top three likely major tourist destinations in the next five years. India was also a notable mention.

However, we should not neglect to point out that Australia and New Zealand, in third and fourth places respectively overall, were the Asia-Pacific region’s top country brands.  The complete Top 10 is shown below:

1. United States

2. Canada

3. Australia

4. New Zealand

5. France

6. Italy

7. Japan

8. United Kingdom

9. Germany

10. Spain

To learn more about branding market research, please click here.

A new survey by Omnicom Media Group has revealed some positive findings.  The online research conducted among more than 3,500 consumers (age 18-65) across seven Asia-Pacific markets (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand) last month, found that most consumers agree the economy has improved over the last 6 months and continues to do so.

Most of the consumers questioned said they plan to continue their disciplined spending behaviour.  However, a significant minority – around 45% in China and 39% in India – is now ready to increase their expenditure.  This compares to 26% in Malaysia, 24% in Hong Kong, 18% in both Thailand and Singapore, and just 8% in Australia.  Although China and India have suffered some slowing of their respective economies, the overall impact of the global recession has been less severe than in many of the other Asian economies.

In Singapore, 20% of consumers have put off the purchase of computers or computer accessories, with one in five also delaying buying a mobile phone handset.

Meanwhile in Malaysia, 35% have postponed automotive purchases, 31% have put off buying computer accessories, and 30% have delayed travel plans.

As well as delaying purchases seen as non-essential, further strategies employed by consumers to deal with the recession have included switching to cheaper brands and using less of a product/purchasing it less frequently.

The results of our global survey on Marketing Strategies in the recession are just one of the areas covered in our latest newsletter, see link

In this, our summer 2009 issue, you can also read all about:

·          The recent trends we’ve been seeing in different industry sectors, and the changes we’ve noticed in clients’ market research and intelligence requirements.

·          All the latest B2B International news and offerings…and much more besides.

We hope you enjoy reading our latest newsletter. 

http://www.b2binternational.com/~webuser/newsletter/Newsletter.pdf

Here you can download our B2B 2009 summer newsletter. Click on the link to view the PDF version, or right-click and ’save as’ to download it.

Media magazine (www.media.asia) recently published the results of its ‘Asia’s Top 1,000 Brands’ survey.

Covering Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, the survey looked to rank the best and most trusted Asian brands across 11 major product and service categories, including: automotive, financial services, food & beverage, and media & telecommunications.

Many of those featuring highly in the list will be familiar names to both Eastern and Western markets and consumers alike.  Some strong brands which are less well recognised outside of Asia include: Lotte at no.21 (Sweets & candy); Meiji at no.29 (Food & drink); and Shiseido at no.41 (Cosmetics).

The Full Top 10 list is:

1.     Sony (Consumer Electronics)

2.     Samsung (Electronics/White goods)

3.     Canon (Camera/Office equipment)

4.     LG (Electronics/White goods)

5.     Panasonic(Consumer Electronics)

6.     Hewlett-Packard (Computers)

7.     Nokia (Mobile phone)

8.     Apple (Consumer Electronics)

9.     Google (Search engine)

10.   Coca-Cola (Soft drinks)