Double win for DBS as it holds tight to its title of Singapore’s Most Valuable Brand for consecutive 9 years and also crowned the Strongest Brand in Singapore

• Top 7 brands manage to retain their spot while Tiger and Olam get into Top 10 for the first time.

• Total value of Top 100 Singaporean brands in 2021 down further 14% to US$42.9 billion, from US$48.9 billion in 2020
• DBS still dominates in top spot and holding its fort strongly with the other 2 banks following tightly behind, despite its brand value decreasing
• Tiger and Olam fights their way into the top 10 for the first time and manage to oust out CapitaLand and ComfortDelGro this year
• Five new entrants in ranking this year
• Top 10 most valuable brands contribute 62% of the total brand value while the bottom 50 contribute 4%
• Banking sector very much still dominates, claiming top 3 spots with a combined value of US$16.4 billion.

Brand is the one of the most valuable assets any company has and yet it’s the least focussed upon especially in times of crisis. Brand building requires very specific effort beyond just sales and marketing and running campaigns. Because a brand is the sum of everything.

It must be the agenda of the board on a regular basis yet, most boards may not even be aware of the value of their brand or what drives the value up or down. An asset that represents up to 20-30% value of the company of higher.

Every year, leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance puts thousands of the world’s top brands to the test, evaluating which are the most powerful (by brand strength) and the most valuable (by brand value), publishing the Brand Finance Top 100 Singaporean Brands.

Now in its 13th year in Singapore, the Brand Finance rankings are the most definitive rankings based on the value of the brands.

The rankings are also the world’s only rankings that have a triple certification for robustness of analysis and as an ROI measure – the ISO 10668 (for brand valuation), the ISO 20671 (for brand evaluation) and the certification by the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) through the Marketing Metric Audit Protocol (MMAP), the formal process for validating the relationship between marketing measurement and financial performance.

Singapore’s Top 10 Most Valuable Brands

Formidable and dominant three

The three local banks have been performing well for many years and continuously dominate the rankings and again in 2021, no other contenders are being able to challenge the top three spots and it’s also unlikely that DBS, with a brand value of US$7.18 billion, will be dethroned from the top of the Brand Finance Top 100 Most Valuable Singapore Brands table for a long time. OCBC and UOB continues to be jostling each other against for the 2^nd and 3^rd position ranking, respectively.

OCBC has managed to maintain its second position with a brand value of US$ 4.5 billion, while UOB has widen the gap this year with a brand value of US$ 3.9 billion.

The three banks have contributed 38% of the total brand value in Singapore, up marginally from 37% last year.

The focus on brand strength

The brand strength, measured by Brand Strength Index (BSI), shows that the average BSI of the Top 100 brands has increased marginally from 61.5/100 last year to 61.8/100 in 2021 thereby making them less competitive regionally or locally. Most brands, however, have remained stagnant in terms of brand strength and while they may be doing well locally, they have been losing out to some of the key competitors in the region as they lack competitiveness outside of the Singapore market.

DBS replaces Singtel to become the strongest brand in 2021 and dominates the brand strength ranking with a score of 87 out of 100. Singtel has fallen following a drop in score but still continues to retain its AAA brand strength rating, making them and DBS as the only 2 brands with the AAA brand strength rating this year.

Brand highlights

Tiger and Olam has made its way into the top 10 this year for the first time and has ousted CapitaLand and ComfortDelGro out of the top 10. Tiger had recorded an impressive jump in ranking from 19^th last year to 9^th position this year. Olam, on the other hand sees a jump ahead of 5 positions as compared to last year from 15^th to 10^th.Wilmar has recorded a huge drop in brand value and ranking, although it has still maintained its strong foothold in the top 10 position. Tiger and Olam are the only two brands in the top 10 that have recorded a brand value increase while the remaining eight brands all see a drop.

MindChamps is a new entrant into the ranking in 58^thplace, with a brand value of US$58 million.

This year also sees other four new entrants including: AEM, Creative, UG Healthcare and MoneyMax.

Samir Dixit, Manging Director of Brand Finance Asia Pacifichighlighted that “Unless companies have a strong brand agenda and are managing the strength and value of their brands in a concentrated manner, we will continue to see large year on year variations in brand value, brand strength and brand rankings”.

Samir continues “The big problem is the brand is left to a few people in the organisation to manage and is never a serious agenda for the board”. This is clearly evident as most of the top management or the boards have no brand KPIs for themselves or their firms”

“Most Singapore brands are typically very communications focussed and misunderstand their campaigns – which are mostly digital these days - to be brand building initiatives and that’s where they miss the big picture about the brand”. Added Samir.

Samir Dixit challenges that Singapore companies to be more brand-driven and not sales or offers-driven. This destroys the long-term value and the strength of the brand. Brand has to be a strategic agenda for the senior management and boards and must be managed like any other business asset and not just a legal trademark.”

“Financial companies continue to make up for over 35% of the top 100 value. As Singapore further develops, we expect consolidation in the banking sector, so it will be interesting to see which brands remain. Banks who can digitalise and remain relevant will be the ones who will win.”

Samir Dixit, Manging Director of Brand Finance Asia Pacific highlighted that “While Singaporean brands have grown, they will likely face strong headwinds ahead as they lose out to some other brands in the region in terms of brand competitiveness and value growth”.

“It is the brand strength for most brands that still remains a concern and also a significant risk. Brands must recognise this and work towards mitigating it” stressed Samir.

Samir Dixit further commented that “The rankings still remain very top heavy raising further concern as the top 10 contributes over 62% of the total brand value. We would like to see more diverse mix at the top and a more significant value increase at the bottom, meaning other brands must start focussing on their value and brand strength.”

Singapore’s Most Valuable Brands (11-100)

ENDS