FOCUS - READER'S DIGEST SUPERBRANDS SEMINAR: Sony triumphs as Asia's No.1 brand

Sony has emerged as Asia's power brand in Reader's Digest's second SuperBrands poll, dominating the consumer electronics categories so completely that it was awarded the coveted platinum status. With its PlayStation Two making waves globally, the Japanese consumer electronics giant stamped the superiority of its brand in the television, VCR, CD player, MD player, VCD/DVD player and video camera categories. Sony was unbeatable in the MD and video camera categories, emerging as the favoured brand in the six markets polled by the magazine. It was equally strong in the TV category, losing out only in Thailand to Panasonic. The other categories which offered up a clear platinum SuperBrand winner for the region were soft drinks (Coca-Cola), tea (Lipton), coffee (Nescafe), soup (Campbell's), whisky (Johnnie Walker) and baby care (Johnson & Johnson). Coca-Cola lost out to Pepsi in Thailand and to big-spending local brand Hey Song in Taiwan, while Lipton was the favoured brand across five markets. Although it commanded pole position in Taiwan, it didn't garner enough votes for platinum status. To achieve platinum status, a brand must achieve a score of more than three times the nearest other brand, said Asian Commercial Research managing director Wander Meijer. Gold SuperBrand winners (listed alphabetically in chart) must reach a high level of both quantitative and qualitative scores, performing significantly above other brands in the category. Qualitative dimensions rated by respondents were quality, value, strong image, trustworthy and understanding of customer needs, while quantitative scores were based on the number of times that a brand was mentioned by respondents. More than 9,000 brands were voted as preferred brands, but just under 140 were accorded SuperBrand status, according to Asian Commercial Research, which conducted the poll in six Asian markets, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. A total of 82,000 questionnaires in different languages were sent out, with a 7.4 per cent response rate achieved across the six markets or just over 6,000 returns. SUPERBRAND WINNERS Category Total Asia Car: BMW Honda Mercedes Benz Toyota Hotel: Hilton Holiday Inn Hyatt Mandarin Oriental Shangri-La Airline: Cathay Pacific Singapore Airlines Thai Airways Computer: Acer Compaq IBM Home Canon Office Epson Equipment: Hewlett Packard Mobile Ericsson Phone: Motorola Nokia TV: Sony Panasonic VCR: Sony Panasonic CD Player: Sony Aiwa Panasonic MD Player: Sony Aiwa Panasonic VCR/DVD Sony Player: Pioneer Panasonic Camera: Canon (35mm/Compact/ Nikon SLR) Olympus APS Canon Camera: Nikon Digital Canon Camera: Sony Video Sony Camera: Canon Panasonic Watch: Casio Omega Rolex Seiko Swatch Quality Cross Pen: Mont Blanc Parker Washing Electrolux Machine: National Whirlpool Category Total Asia Refrigerator: General Electric National Sharp Cooker: National Sharp Water: Evian Soft drink: Coca-Cola Pepsi Tea: Lipton Nestea Coffee: Nescafe Maxwell House Milk: Carnation Nestle Cereal: Kellogg's Nestle Quaker Oats Soup: Campbell's Knorr Maggi Cooking Knife Brand Oil: Mazola Minola Seasoning Ajinomoto Products: Knorr Maggi Instant Maggi Noodles: Mama Nissin Instant Knorr Stock: Maggi Beer: Carlsberg San Miguel Whisky: Johnnie Walker Chivas Regal Brandy: Hennessy Martell Remy Vodka: Absolut Smirnoff Shampoo/ Pantene Conditioner Sunsilk Vidal Sassoon Toothpaste: Colgate Darlie Cosmetics: Avon Estee Lauder Shiseido Skincare: Johnson & Johnson Pond's Oil of Ulan (Olay) Baby Food: Nestle S26 Baby Johnson & Johnson Care: Pampers

Sign In

Trouble signing in?

Reset Password: Click here

Contact Customer Support at

Customerservice@campaignasia.com