Bangkok--9 May--Reader’s Digest Association
Thai brands are dear to heart.
Reader’s Digest reveals the most trusted brands voted by Thailand and Asia consumers in its annual survey.
May 2007 Thailand “Made in Thailand” brands are getting the thumbs up from consumers in the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey. The results reflect Thai brands rule! They have the support of the Thai people and they are beating competition from international brands.
Currently in its ninth year, Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands Survey is recognized for being one of the most representative and transparent branding surveys. Consumers are asked to name the brand they trust most (unprompted and top of mind) in 43 categories of services and products, and rate the brands based on 6 factors: trustworthiness, credible image, quality, value, understanding of customer needs and innovation.
“This year, we have added some new categories like hospital and university, where we feel the level of trust is very important. We are constantly refreshing the survey to include information that will be useful to consumers and also to encourage brands to strive harder, be it to upgrade their products, update their image or improve their service levels to meet consumers’ expectations,” says Simon Cholmeley, Regional Advertising Director, Reader’s Digest Asia.
Survey Highlights:
- Thai brands are well loved in Thailand: 41 local brands made it to the trusted list this year. (Full list of local brands below). Thailand has one of the highest numbers of local brands voted in Asia.
- Asia-wide, developed markets like Hong Kong and Singapore continue to embrace global brands. For Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand, which are rich in natural resources and have more local brands, they are supportive of homegrown brands. While for India, an emerging economy with the most number of local brands, International brands have to start establishing and contend with local brands for the consumer dollar.
- Newly voted trusted brands in Thailand from new categories are Phyathai Hospital and Siriraj Hospital for hospital. Chulalongkorn University for varsity. American Standard and COTTO for bathroom fixtures. Body Shape for beauty center. Central and The Mall for department store. Lotus and Satin for mattresses.
- The Thais trust local operators for petrol station, investment fund, mobile service provider, banking and property developer categories. Jet and PTT are trusted petrol stations. Bangkok Bank and Siam Commercial Bank are voted trusted banks. Thais trust Thanachart Fund Management to manage their investments. AIS and DTAC are trusted mobile service providers. Land & Houses Public Co., Ltd is a trusted property developer.
- The Thais support home grown brands in the following sectors: airline, services, jewelry shop, food & beverages. For office equipment, electrical and electronic home appliances, Japanese brands still rule.
- Reflecting a cosmopolitan and open economy, Thai consumers continue to covet global brands like AIA, Canon, Rolex, Toyota, Honda, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sony, HP, Toshiba, Acer, Seiko, DHL, Panasonic, Loreal, Brands, and Heineken. They are some of the trusted brands voted again this year.
- When it comes to investing in that expensive piece of jewelry, the Thais trust local jeweler - Hua-Seng-Heng, the only local jeweler voted as a trusted brand, beating international brands like Tiffany & Co. or Bvlgari.
The results of the survey will be published in the May 2007 issue of Reader's Digest Asia editions and the Thailand results will be available on the website www.rdasiatrustedbrands.com at the end of April 2007. The website also features survey results from 1999 onwards.
About the survey:
Partnered with Nielsen Media Research, world leader in international media research and analysis, Reader’s Digest Asia sampled a total of 7000 people in Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines. More than 300,000 questionnaires were mailed by Reader’s Digest magazine last October, while 3,500 phone interviews were conducted by Nielsen Media Research during October-November 2006.
Respondents voted (unprompted) for their single most preferred brand in 43 categories of products and services.
This year’s new categories include hospital, university, bathroom fixtures, beauty center, department store and mattress.
Brands were assessed and ranked quantitatively and qualitatively based on 6 determining factors: trustworthiness, credible image, quality, value, understanding of customer needs and innovation.
Gold Trusted Brand status is awarded to brands whose performance rated significantly above others in their category.
Platinum Trusted Brand status recognizes the cream of crop — only a handful of these top-notch brands achieved Platinum status. Platinum status is an extraordinary recognition of dominance, meaning no other competitor comes close to them. To achieve Platinum status, brands must achieve a rating score of at least double that of the nearest competitor.
Thai brands voted this year:
1. Dusit Thani (Hotel)
2. Thai Airways (Airline)
3. PTT (Petrol Station)
4. Bangkok Bank (Bank)
5. SIAM COMMERCIAL BANK (Bank)
6. Thanachart Fund Management (Investment Fund Company)
7. TISCO Asset Management (Investment Fund Company)
8. Thai Life Insurance (Insurance)
9. TOT (Telecom Company)
10. TRUE (Telecom Company)
11. AIS (Mobile Service Provider)
12. DTAC (Mobile Service Provider)
13. Land & Houses Public Co., Ltd. (Property Developer)
14. Tops (Supermarket Chain)
15. Central (Department Store)
16. The Mall (Department Store)
17. Body Shape (Beauty Centre)
18. Phyathai Hospital (Hospital)
19. Siriraj Hospital (Hospital)
20. Chulalongkorn University (University)
21. Hua-Seng-Heng (Jewelry Shop)
22. Lancer (Pen)
23. TOA (Paint)
24. Captain (Paint)
25. Saijo Denki (Air Conditioner)
26. COTTO (Sanitary Ware)
27. Lotus (Mattress)
28. Satin (Mattress)
29. Aura (Water/Mineral Water)
30. Singha (Water/Mineral)
31. Malee (Juice)
32. Tipco (Juice)
33. Dutch Mill (Milk)
34. A-ngoon (Cooking Oil)
35. Cook (Cooking Oil)
36. Morakot (Cooking Oil)
37. Roddee (Seasoning Products)
38. Golden Phoenix (Rice)
39. Maboonkrong (Rice)
40. Singha (Beer)
41. Audace (Hair Dye)
The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. is a global publisher and direct marketer of books, magazines and home entertainment products that inform, enrich, entertain and inspire people of all ages and cultures around the world. The company publishes 77 magazines, including its flagship magazine, Reader’s Digest, Asia’s and the world’s biggest selling magazine. It is published in 50 editions and 21 languages. The company is privately held by Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C. RDA's headquarters are located near Pleasantville, New York. RD Asia’s corporate website is www.rdasia.com .
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