According to the rankings, Nike retained its position as the top overall brand in South Africa and across the continent. Bathu, established only in 2015, has emerged as the top South African brand.
Youth-founded brands established in the past decade made an audacious entry among the top 10, accounting for 40% of the rankings, and upstaging established South African brands, with Maxhosa (#2), Drip (#4) and GalXBoy (#9) in the mix alongside Woolworths (#3), Pick n Pay (#6) and Tiger Brands (#10).
Maxhosa, the African luxury knitwear brand, is leading the pack among South African brands admired for its strong African identity. DStv (56%) leads a South African-dominated list of the most admired media brands in South Africa.
The rankings show that in the top 100 most admired brands, South Africa (33%) and the United States (30%) account for 63% of the 14 nations building brands in South Africa. The apparel category — led by Bathu Shoes, Maxhosa and Drip in the top three — account for 25% of the most admired brands in South Africa.
Consumer, non-cyclical, led by Switzerland’s Nestle, is the second leading category at 14%. Sports and Fitness, led by Nike, the top overall brand in South Africa and Africa, is third at 8% in a diverse list of 15 categories — among the top 100 most admired brands in South Africa.
Reflecting trust in the South African financial services sector, the top 25 brands list is an all local affair, led by FNB as the most admired financial services brand in South Africa, comprising a mix of traditional established banking brands (32%), insurance (36%) led and digital (24%) brands, according to the list.
The rankings have placed MTN, the perennial top African brand, in the top 100 brands across Africa, which now leads the pack as the top most admired South African pan-African brand, recalled spontaneously in most countries across the continent among brands that operate beyond its domestic market.
In the Sustainability category, MTN leads the continent, and Woolworths leads South Africa for brands admired for doing good for society, people and environment.
"The South African rankings and the 30 'brands, events, campaigns and people that have shaped South Africa over the past 30 years' are an insightful lens into the country's creativity, global African leadership, competitiveness and influence," says Thebe Ikalafeng, founder and chairperson of Brand Africa.
"In particular, the performance of youth-founded brands in the rankings are an inspiration for the growth of relevant made in South Africa brands and a catalyst for much lagging industrialisation agenda," adds Ikalafeng.
The research for the 2024 Brand Africa 100 | Africa's Best Brands, which covered 31 countries across every economic region in the continent (including South Africa), took place between February and March.
The research is independently conducted by Brand Africa partners of the past 14 years, Geopoll who lead the fieldwork, and Kantar and Brand Leadership, who lead the analysis and rankings.
Now in its 14th year, every year on or around Africa Day, 25 May, Brand Africa releases the global results of the research and rankings of the most admired brands in Africa based on a survey across over 30 countries that account for as much as 85% of the continent's GDP and population.
The rankings conclude that post-25 May, Brand Africa goes on a roadshow to release the results in select countries.
For more information, visit www.brand.africa. You can also follow Brand Africa on X or on Instagram.
*Image courtesy of contributor