Mineral Water Company, RWENZORI MINERAL WATER, and Pharmaceutical Panadol, have been voted Uganda’s leading Superbrands. The results were determined through a comprehensive survey taken by marketing experts and over 1000 Ugandan consumers based in Kampala, Mbarara and Jinja. The process was managed by the London based company, ‘The Centre for Brand Analysis’ specifically for the SUPERBRANDS program.
Illustrating the increased consistency of the leading brands in the region, 9 brands maintained their presence among the top 20 leading brands as was the previous year.New entries into the Top 20 Superbrands ranking include: Bata, Airtel Money, Shell, RoycoMchuzi Mix and Daily Monitor among others.
Blueband and Total have both entered the top 20, with the former moving up four places to 16th and the latter moving up a more significant nine places to 8th. In general, there has been an increase of brands in the top 20 from a variety of categories including; finance, automotive, households and food &beverages.
Uganda’s strongest brands Rwenzori Mineral Water and MTN have sustained brand equity growth in the region by regaining their positions at the top of the 20 Superbrands.
Brands that dropped out of the top 20 werecarbonated soft drink’s maker, Coca-Cola, supermarket chain, Nakumatt, mobile phone maker Nokia and milk brand Fresha.
Stephen Cheliotis, CEO of The Centre for Brand Analysis highlighted,
“We continue to see reduced volatility in the Ugandan market, with an increasing number of new brands entering the top 20 of the Ugandan brand elite. These top brands are once again led by the impressive RWENZORI brand while PANADOL moved up six places to second. There was however a big dip in the performance of some brands. The top 20 overall is a balanced blend of global brands, such as Blueband and Total, and local brands, such as Sadolin Paints and Makerere University”.
As is evident, it is a mix set of results for these brands, with a considerable amount of volatility highlighting different winners over the period.
The official top 20 Ugandan Consumer Superbrands 2017 index is highlighted as follows;
| Official Rankings | Brand Name | Category | Official Index |
| 1 | Rwenzori Pure Natural Mineral Water | Drinks – Non-Alcoholic – General | 100.00 |
| 2 | Panadol | Pharmaceutical | 99.51 |
| 3 | MTN | Telecommunications, Internet & Broadband | 97.45 |
| 4 | MTN Mobile Money | Financial – General | 96.84 |
| 5 | Airtel | Telecommunications, Internet & Broadband | 96.82 |
| 6 | New Vision | Media – Newspapers & Magazines | 91.60 |
| 7 | NTV | Media – TV Stations | 90.85 |
| 8 | Total | Oil & Gas | 90.62 |
| 9 | Bata | Clothing & Footwear | 90.59 |
| 10 | Airtel Money | Financial – General | 90.24 |
| 11 | Makerere University | Education Providers & Facilities | 90.12 |
| 12 | Sadolin | Household – General | 88.79 |
| 13 | Shell | Oil & Gas | 88.56 |
| 14 | JESA Farm Dairy | Drinks – Non-Alcoholic – Dairy Drinks, Milk & Cream | 87.81 |
| 15 | Serena Hotels | Travel – Hotels & Resorts | 87.72 |
| 16 | Blue Band | Food – General | 85.63 |
| 17 | Omo | Household – Cleaning Products | 85.02 |
| 18 | City Tyres | Automative – Distributors, Retailers & General | 84.77 |
| 19 | RoycoMchuzi Mix | Food – General | 81.98 |
| 20 | Daily Monitor | Media – Newspapers & Magazines | 80.88 |
About Superbrands:
Superbrands is the world’s largest independent arbiter of branding. It identifies and pays tribute to exceptional brands by recognising, rewarding and reinforcing leading brands from all over the world. Superbrand status strengthens a brand’s position, adds prestige and sets the brand apart from its competitors. Superbrands have launched programmes in over 88 countries including all the key global markets. Superbrands East Africa was launched in the region in 2007.
Consumer Superbrands Selection Process – Summary
The Tanzanian Consumer Superbrands are chosen by a combination of local Marketing Experts, appointed to the independent Superbrands Council, and just over 1,000 Ugandan consumers,drawn from the urban areas of Dar es Kampala, Mbarara and Jinja. Brands do not apply or pay to be considered. The public vote is the culmination of an independent selection process administered by The Centre for Brand Analysis (TCBA).
Consumer Superbrands Selection Process – Detail
The Consumer Superbrands survey is independently administered by The Centre for Brand Analysis (TCBA). Brands do not apply or pay to be considered; rather, the selection process is conducted as follows:
- TCBA researchers compile lists of Tanzania’s leading business-to-consumer brands, drawing on a wide range of sources.
- From the thousands of brands initially reviewed, a final shortlist is created. For 2017, just fewer than 1,000 brands were shortlisted. This list is voted on by the independent and voluntary Superbrands Council. Bearing in mind the definition and qualities of a Consumer Superbrand, the council members individually award each brand a rating from 1–10. Council members are not allowed to score brands with which they have a direct association or are in competition to, nor do they score brands they are unfamiliar with.
- The top 60% of brands based on the councils’ collective score go through to the next round of voting, whereby the consumers of those brands, provide their opinions.
- An almost even split of men and women were asked, with representation ensured across all age groups and social-economic classes and education attainment levels.
- The views of the Superbrands Council and the Tanzania consumers are combined on an equal weighting to create a final ranking. The leading brands are deemed to be Superbrands.
Consumer Superbrands Definition
When voting on the brands, both the expert council and consumers consider the following definition of a Superbrand:“A Superbrand has established the finest reputation in its field. It offers customers significant emotional and/or tangible advantages over other brands, which (consciously or sub- consciously) customers want and recognise.”
In addition, both audiences are asked to judge brands against the following three factors:
- Does the brand represent quality products and services?
- Can the brand be trusted to deliver consistently against its promises and maintain product and service standards at all customer touch points?
- Is the brand not only well known in its sector but suitably differentiated from its competitors? Does it have a personality and values that make it unique within
Who are The Centre for Brand Analysis?
The Centre for Brand Analysis (TCBA) is a no-nonsense brand performance consultancy that helps businesses of all shapes and sizes understand and increase the performance of their brand. It focuses on gathering evidence, developing insights and producing growth strategies. TCBA uses a range of proprietary internal & external brand tracking and evaluation tools. TCBA is run by Stephen Cheliotis, is a leading brand consultant that provides strategic advice to both established and challenger brands across a wide range of b2c and b2b markets. He chairs the UK’s Superbrands & CoolBrands Council and is a regular commentator on branding for media including CNN, the BBC and Sky. He is a Visiting Professor at the London Metropolitan University Business School. He produces significant research studies for the industry; recent examples include HeadSpace in partnership with the Cubo Group, The Emotion 100, in conjunction with Brandhouse and Talkonomics, in collaboration with the Exposure Group.
Who are TNS?
TNS is one of the largest research agencies worldwide. It provides actionable insights that help companies make impactful decisions that drive growth. It is part of Kantar, one of the world’s largest insight, information and consultancy groups.