TOP 50 BRANDS

NAME DROPPING BRAND RANKING 2012

European telcos speak out on the importance of brand strength, but the biggest risers in the latest Brand Finance ranking come from the BRICs. By Mary Lennighan

‘F

amiliarity breeds contempt’, an expression that is still in common parlance, some two

and a half thousand years after it was first used by Aesop in one of his fables. But while there are everyday situations in which many of us doubtless believe it to be true–spending time with the in-laws, for example–many of life’s experiences show the opposite. In recent years telecoms operators have

demonstrated that they are keen to provide a familiar experience to their customers, and many have undertaken projects to unite their global operations under a common brand. Last month, Vodafone celebrated the

10th anniversary of its Partner Markets programme, which gives it presence in countries in which it does not hold an equity stake in a local telecoms operator. In its own words, “Vodafone and its partner operators cooperate in the marketing of global products and serv- ices with varying levels of brand association”. Recent additions to the programme see France’s SFR–no longer part-owned by Vodafone–offering enter- prise products under the Vodafone brand, while new operator Pacific Mobile Telecom in French Polynesia is adopting the Vodafone brand across its business.

Given its efforts to build a global brand,

it comes as no surprise that Vodafone is ranked first in Brand Finance’s top 50 telecoms network operator brands 2012 table, compiled for Total Telecom. Vodafone leads the industry with a brand value of over US$30 billion, retaining the top spot for the fourth consecutive year; it is also the only operator in the table with a AAA+ brand rating. “Brand building is at the core of our

business strategy and it’s a key perform- ance indicator for us,” says Clare Sheikh, Vodafone’s group brand director. “As the telecoms industry matures, those brands that have not built a distinctive and differentiating personality for themselves face the risk of being commoditised,” she warns. “A strong global brand is not about

advertising, visibility or price, although all these things have a part to play,” Sheikh says. “It’s about ensuring that everything we say, do and offer solves a problem or creates an opportunity for our customers.” Meanwhile, the only operator at the

top end of the table to have improved its standing compared with last year was France Telecom’s Orange, which, like Vodafone, has a strong strategy for devel- oping a cohesive global brand.

A strong global brand is not about advertising, visibility or price...

RISERS Rostelecom

Centurylink Claro

Virgin Media KT

KPN

Chunghwa airtel

10 FALLERS RANK 2012 RANK 2011 CHANGE

30 25 20 27 36 45 48 23

163 48 37 42 50 58 59 33

+133 +23 +17 +15 +14 +13 +11 +10

Source: Brand Finance Oi

Swisscom Vivo nTT SFR O2

RANK 2012 RANK 2011 CHANGE

44 38 31 12 33 17

T (Deutsche Telekom in Germany) 19 MTn

24

21 27 26 9

30 15 17 22

-23 -11 -5 -3 -3 -2 -2 -2

Source: Brand Finance www.totaltele.com February 2012 “The Orange brand is one of our major

tools,” and is at the centre of France Telecom’s strategy, says Séverine Legrix de la Salle, VP of brand, image and part- nership at Orange. Companies that have a single-brand

strategy tend to be the biggest players in their given sector ergo they tend to score highly in surveys like Brand Finance’s. But, “any direct benefit of a single

brand on customer acquisition and reten- tion is not always clear cut,” says Xander Bird, valuation director at Brand Finance, noting that the impact of moving to a unified branding strategy is influenced by a number of factors, including local attitudes to foreign brands, existing awareness of the international brand, and its value proposition. “Even the most ‘global’ of telecom

brands will require regional or national teams to interpret the global positioning and determine an appropriate position- ing in a particular market,” he says. Orange finds it easier to attract custom-

ers outside its home market using the Orange brand than with a local name. “Each time we replace the local brand with the Orange brand it is a success,” insists Legrix de la Salle, speaking in particular about Orange’s operations in Africa. However, she also points out the importance of adapting the international brand to the local environment. “For some countries, Orange is very local,” she says.