Home Grown

Kantar Millward Brown’s Piotr Chodakowski examines what Saudi brands are doing to reach a newly published top 20 ranking.

- Piotr Chodakowski

In March WPP and Kantar Millward Brown launched the first BrandZ Top 20 Most Valuable Saudi Arabian Brands study in partnership with Prince Mohammad bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC).

Today, Saudi Arabia is embarking on a hugely ambitious and far-reaching programme to transform and diversify its economy through Vision 2030 as it hopes to move away from its reliance on oil by developing a thriving private sector, fostering entrepreneurship, and improving people’s health and quality of life.

“Strong brands don’t arise through good fortune or just one creative advertising campaign; they are built through sustained investment in the external face of the business and through continually proving its ability to deliver on a promise of quality,” says Fahd Al Rasheed, vice-chairman of the board of trustees of MBSC.

In its global and local rankings, BrandZ investigates what sets the strongest brands apart from the competition and shows that awareness is a key ingredient in consumer choice. But it is a brand’s ability to make a meaningful connection with a consumer that matters most. Brands must get noticed, but they must then have something of value to say.

Successful brands in Saudi Arabia are telling stories that resonate with contemporary Saudis to help them navigate the evolving tensions they face between tradition and modernity. Consumers are sophisticated and selective, and expect an increasingly complex but authentic relationship with the brands they make part of their lives.

The most successful brands create a connection with consumers to generate a significantly greater return on their brand investment, which positively affects sales and bottom line.

Here is a list of key takeaways that we would advise marketers to consider when operating in Saudi Arabia: