Despite Economic Difficulties... Large Automobiles, International Aviation, and e-Shopping Malls Shined

[2023 NBCI] 70 Industries, 243 Brands National Brand Competitiveness Index
Average Score Rises to 76.5 Compared to Last Year

Despite the challenging economic conditions marked by high inflation, high oil prices, high interest rates, and high exchange rates, domestic companies' efforts to enhance competitiveness are steadily bearing fruit for consumers. The competitiveness of domestic corporate brands across manufacturing and service industries has increased compared to last year. In manufacturing, large automobiles had the highest brand competitiveness, while in services, international airlines and internet shopping malls ranked first.

On the 14th, the Korea Productivity Center (Chairman An Wanki) announced the results of this year's National Brand Competitiveness Index (NBCI) survey covering 243 brands across 70 domestic industries. The average score of all surveyed brands was 76.5 points, up 0.4 points (0.5%) from last year's 76.1 points. The NBCI, launched in 2004, is a representative domestic brand competitiveness measurement index aimed at spreading brand value-oriented management mindsets and enhancing national brand value. Now in its 20th year, the NBCI accurately captures consumers' perceptions of current brand value levels and provides meaningful information to companies and consumers by predicting near-future market conditions. The Korea Productivity Center conducts the survey, with support from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Looking at this year's NBCI scores by industry, among 65 industries with comparable data from the previous year, 28 industries saw an increase in NBCI scores. Fifteen industries recorded the same scores as last year, while 22 industries experienced a decline. The number of industries with declining scores increased significantly compared to last year's 9. However, the fact that 28 out of 65 industries improved indicates that domestic companies performed well despite the difficult economic environment.

Large Automobiles Rank First in Manufacturing

Specifically, the average NBCI score for 116 brands across 36 manufacturing industries was 76.4 points, a 0.1-point increase from the previous year. The highest scoring industry was large automobiles with 81 points. Smartphones and TVs followed closely with 80 points each. Tablets scored 79 points.

Excluding four newly surveyed industries, 13 manufacturing industries saw an increase in NBCI compared to last year, 8 remained unchanged, and 11 declined. The industry with the largest improvement in brand competitiveness was washing machines (4.0%). Brand competitiveness also rose for air purifiers, compact, mid-size, near-large, and large automobiles, refrigerators and kimchi refrigerators, cigarettes, outdoor gear, clothes dryers, smartphones, and TVs. Meanwhile, bottled water, soju, dishwashers, apartments, tires, tablets, cosmetics, and SUV automobiles remained stagnant. Laptops, cordless vacuum cleaners, total home interior, water purifiers, gas boilers, ramen, dehumidifiers, and compact cars were among the industries that declined.

Among the 116 individual manufacturing brands, G90 and Chamisul received the highest evaluation with 82 points. LG Tromm (washing machines), Samsung Galaxy, and Jeju Samdasoo followed closely with 81 points.

Genesis New G90 [Image source=Yonhap News]

A key feature of this survey's results is the overall stability in manufacturing industries, with no significant rises or falls. Among the main evaluation factors?brand awareness, image, and relationships?only relationships improved. Although awareness and image showed slight declines compared to last year, the relatively large increase in relationship scores drove the slight rise in manufacturing NBCI.

Service Industry Brand Competitiveness at 76.6 Points

The average NBCI score for the service industry, covering 127 brands across 34 industries, was 76.6 points, up 0.7 points from last year. International airlines and internet shopping malls led with brand competitiveness scores of 80 points, followed by multiplex cinemas, life insurance, and electronics specialty stores at 79 points.

Fifteen industries saw increases compared to last year, with life insurance (5.3%) and internet shopping malls (5.3%) showing significant gains. Competitiveness also rose for app cards (4.0%), general hospitals (4.0%), parcel delivery (2.6%), smart learning (2.6%), multiplex cinemas (2.6%), and electronics specialty stores (2.6%). Seven industries maintained their previous year's levels, including international calls, large supermarkets, banks, gas stations, and TV home shopping. Eleven industries, such as large marts, duty-free shops, convenience stores, IPTV, and T-commerce, experienced declines.

Among individual brands, Samsung Life Insurance received the highest score of 82 points in the service sector. Paris Baguette, CGV, SSG.com, and Korean Air followed with 81 points. CJ Logistics and Yes24 scored 80 points.

The rise in NBCI levels in the service industry was driven by improvements in brand awareness and image. Among the three evaluation factors, brand awareness and image increased by 1.0% and 0.8%, respectively, while relationships rose by 0.3%. Evaluations of marketing activities also increased by 1.0% compared to last year, indicating that recent strengthening of corporate marketing efforts has contributed to the rise in brand awareness and image.

The slight increase in NBCI across both manufacturing and service industries is attributed to many industries and brands effectively delivering customer benefits and value. This suggests that the information companies provide has been efficiently and distinctively communicated to customers, resulting in improved brand awareness.

The Productivity Center emphasized, "Going forward, companies will need to focus more on branding activities to maintain loyal customers and acquire new ones." They added, "In a fiercely competitive business environment flooded with diverse channels, content, and information, efforts to promote brands, effective communication, and feedback activities with customers will be crucial."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.