For the fourth time in a row, Dangote Group has emerged as the most valuable brand in Nigeria for the year 2021.
The Dangote Group products need no introduction across the length and breadth of Nigeria as they have become household names.
Also, MTN Nigeria trailed as the Most Popular brand in the new Top of the Mind (TOM) survey conducted among corporate executives in the country.
In rating the brands, seven metrics were deployed, and they include brand popularity; quality element; market leadership; innovation; national spread; CSR-environmental friendliness and online engagements.
Of the seven metrics, according to the report, Dangote brand came tops in five, beating MTN to a distant second. The ratings were made public, over the weekend, at the annual top corporate brand evaluation report by Top 50 Brands Nigeria.
The annual top brands league table which has become like a report card with which top corporate brands have a feel of their ranking in the market is done with a special purpose model, the Brand Strength Measurement (BSM Index), a model that tests a brand’s ability to deliver on its promise to its consumers from the consumers’ points of view. It is a qualitative, non-financial evaluation of top corporate brands in the country, which is done annually.
The Brand Consulting firm’s CEO, Taiwo Oluboyede said, without any doubt, the subject of brand and branding has become central in every corporate setting. And regardless of the sounds of the time, the brand drives and determines corporate placement, particularly at an unprecedented time like this.
He said: “We are glad once again that a Nigerian brand emerged as the most valuable for the year. This says a lot about our tenacity and resilience as a people and our businesses, regardless of the situations around us. Even though overall, we have more multinationals, the homegrown brands gave an impressive performance.
“For example, six of the top 10 in the league table are Nigerian, most of which have also spread to other countries across Africa and other continents of the world.”
Globacom emerged in the third place, followed closely by Coca-Cola Nigeria who enjoys a lot of its global brand appeal.
Others in the top 10 in this annual ranking are GTBank, Airtel, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, First Bank, and Dufil Prima Foods in that order.
Six brands among the top 10 have maintained top 10 positions for six years consecutively; they are Dangote, MTN, Globacom, First Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) and Coca-Cola. The Banking and Financial Services category had the highest number of entries among the top 10 with four brands. This is followed by the telecoms with three brands.
Speaking on the top brands ranking, founder and chairman of Proshare Nigeria Limited, Femi Awoyemi, said: “With the thorough evaluation process and degree of attention to detail evident in the report, the list indeed provides a true and fair representation of top brands by strength, popularity and potentials in Nigeria.
“This edition of Brand Nigeria’s Top 50 Brands in Nigeria highlighted brands that have demonstrated strong resilience and adaptive capacity to the new normal in growing or maintaining their brands. These brands have been able to maintain consumers’ confidence and market shares as observed by professionals and analysts. A few things stand out.”
He added that, “First, it is commendable to see that in the evaluation process used in ranking the brands, professionals such as chief marketing officers and head of corporate communications and reputation managers. Second, the acknowledgment of Financial Technology (FinTech) as evidenced in the top 10 brands to watch in 2021 where FinTech accounted for about 50 per cent.
“Third is the continued domination of the list of the top 50 brands in 2021 by multinationals, banks, and Nigerian Exchange (NGX) quoted brands. Dangote came first in five of the seven metrics used in the ranking report.
“Seven companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) made the list of top 10 brands in Nigeria. This implies that about 70 per cent of the top brands are listed on NGX, which draws attention to the correlation between brands and markets.”
Meanwhile, Dangote Cement, a subsidiary of Dangote Group recently emerged as the highest corporate income taxpayer and biggest employer of labour in the country for the year 2020.
The indigenous cement manufacturer came first among top 100 elite companies listed on the Nigeria Exchange (NGX) posting into the coffer of the federal government a princely sum of N97.24 billion in the year, while MTN Communication Nigeria Plc paid N93.6billion and Guaranty Trust Bank came third with an income tax of N36.66 billion.
In the same breath, the Cement company with presence in other African countries also emerged as the company with the highest number of employees with a total number of 16,199 staffers on its payroll as at the time of performance review.
In the performance analyses of 100 top elite corporate bodies on the Nigeria Exchange carried out by the reputable business magazine, “Next Money”, Dangote Cement was ranked as the most capitalised company in the country with N4,173.22 billion.
The Dangote Group has moved from being a trading company to be the largest industrial group in Nigeria with vibrant operations in Nigeria and Africa across a wide range of sectors including cement, sugar, salt, condiments, packaging, energy, port operations, fertiliser, and petrochemicals.
Its core business focus is to provide local, value-added products and services that meet the ‘basic needs’ of the populace through the construction and operation of large scale manufacturing facilities in Nigeria and across Africa. It is focused on building local manufacturing capacity to generate employment, reduce capital flight and increase local value addition.
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