Banks Bounce Back As First National Bank Takes Top Spot As South Africa’s Most Valuable Brand
Banks Bounce Back As First National Bank Takes Top Spot As South Africa’s Most Valuable Brand. 20% of the most valuable South African brands show positive growth and banking, fast food and retail are the most resilient categories in 2023.
The most valuable South African brands in 2023 have a total combined value of $31.6bn, according to the Kantar BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable South African Brands 2023 report published today. A combination of innovation, the ability to attract new customers, and successful pricing strategies has seen financial services, fast food and retail brands among the most resilient across all categories, despite challenging economic conditions in South Africa and across international markets.
First National Bank (FNB) is the top South African brand with a brand value of $3.4bn. The financial services category is the largest in this year’s Top 30, featuring 11 brands and a total brand value of $13.6bn. As South Africa’s oldest bank, FNB continues to successfully reinvent itself, remaining relevant to existing and new customers and maintaining a point of difference over others in the category. The first bank to offer consumers the opportunity to switch banks by taking a ‘selfie’ and having won accolades for its mobile app, technology is at the forefront of the brand’s success, with FNB setting the market pace on innovation.
Standard Bank ($3.0bn) is the second most valuable brand, with telecoms brands, MTN (No.3; $2.8bn) and Vodacom (No.4; $2.7bn) and alcohol brand Castle (No.5; $2.0bn) completing the top 5 in this year’s brand ranking. Ivan Moroke, CEO, South Africa, Insights Division, Kantar, comments: “As the number one brand, FNB continues to raise the bar despite being the oldest brand in the Top 30 and operating in a highly competitive sector that includes some of the hottest fintech startups. With its focus on innovation and building connections with customers, especially younger people, FNB features high on our Future Power Index, while its work with communities, helping to drive societal change, has seen FNB feature high on our Brand Purpose Index.”
While the overall value of the Top 30 declined by $3.3bn (-9%) versus last year, against a backdrop of high inflation, rising petrol prices and load shedding, South African brands performed better than those in many other markets. A fifth of brands in the ranking showed positive growth, finding new ways to build value, despite challenging conditions.
