MTN has become the first African brand to feature in BrandZ Top 100 coming in at position No 88 at a valuation of $9.2 billion as of 2012.
Developed by leading research agency, Millward Brown Optimor, BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands is a brand rankings that include consumer data as a component element in arriving at the brand value. The rankings survey over 150,000 people around the world.
Among the key highlights of this ranking is the rise of Africa as they state that “This year’s ranking highlights the progress of Africa’s economic development with the arrival of the first African brand in the Top 100 – South African mobile company MTN – No 88 at $9.2 billion. But it’s not just African brands that are thriving south of the Sahara. Around 40% of Guinness’s sales come from Africa, Airtel’s third quarter results showed a 16% increase in revenue in Africa. Similarly, Orange enjoyed rapid growth in Africa in 2011, while Walmart invested there with the acquisition of Massmart.”
Seven of the top 10 brands are technology or telecoms brands with Apple being the number one brand.
It is further emphasized that the The Future is Mobile: The future of the internet will be predominantly mobile rather than computer based. Mobile, to some extent, has been shielded from the recession as one of the few items consumers don’t want to give up or cut back on. The most valuable telecoms brand is AT&T worth $68.8 billion. Whilst the USA’s largest mobile service provider, Verizon, increased its brand value by 15% in the last year and is now worth $49.1 billion.
