Other Grand Prix winners included Vodacom, Nedbank and Coca-Cola. Shoprite was awarded as the first winner of the Proudly South African Brand Award in the Consumer sector.

The survey, conducted by Kantar on behalf of Tiso Blackstar Group and the Sunday Times, is considered the leading barometer of consumer sentiment towards brands in the country. The results of the annual Sunday Times Top Brands Survey were announced at an awards ceremony, which was hosted at The Venue at the Houghton Hotel, Johannesburg.

Eben Gewers, head of advertising Sales at Tiso Blackstar, says, "With twenty-one years of the Sunday Times Top Brands Survey under the belt, we're proud of the contribution the results make in assisting brand strategists and marketers in refining their approach to the market. Understanding how consumers perceive a brand can have a significant impact in directing ad campaigns and messaging to optimise effectiveness, as well as resource and budget efficiencies."

Winners from the 2019 Top Brands Awards

Kantar conducted face-to-face interviews with 3 500 adults in the metro and non-metro areas of South Africa in the consumer sample. The business sample represents businesses of all sizes, with 382 C-level decision-makers participating in online self-complete interviews.

The final consumer results have been weighted to represent the population according to StatsSA 2018 mid-year population estimates. The methodology used to establish brand ranking and category winners is based on the concept of relative advantage. This takes brand familiarity and awareness, the perceptions of users and non-users as well as the size of brand presence in the market into account.

Samu Makhatihni, account director at Kantar, says, "Samsung and KOO being the big winners is indicative of the changing consumer goods basket, and that both heritage and relatively new brands have the ability to be relevant and meaningful to consumers, in their own way."

"The proliferation of digital channels has created a myriad of opportunities for a direct brand economy (DBE), which has created an opportunity for all brands to act as digital natives, to be disruptive, and carve new paths to value in a consumer economy — creating new ways of marketing, new ways of connecting and new ways of competing," Makhatihni adds.

Consumer Categories

KOO is a multiple winner of the Consumer Overall Favourite Brand Grand Prix and took top spot in 2019. Coca-Cola and WhatsApp came in second and third place respectively.

For the third year running, Coca-Cola received the Consumer Green Award, as well the Consumer Social Investment Award. Shoprite received the Proudly South African Brand Award, with Vodacom placing second and Clover third.

Eight new categories were included in the 2019 survey. The winners in the new categories are:
  • Soweto Gold — Craft Beer
  • Telkom LTE — Fibre to the home Providers
  • Ricoffy — Hot Beverages
  • Handy Andy — Household Cleaning
  • Sunlight — Laundry Care
  • Capitec — Online Banking
  • DStv Now — Paid Streaming Service
  • and Whatsapp — Social Networks
Winners in the other 26 Consumer categories include:
  • Hennessy — Alcoholic Spirits
  • Nivea — Make-Up and Face Care
  • Heineken — Beer
  • Mercedes-Benz — Cars
  • All Gold — Condiments & Sauces
  • South African Airways — Domestic Airlines
  • Red Bull — Energy Drinks
  • Tastic — Essential Foods
  • KFC — Fast-Food Restaurants
  • Shoprite — Grocery Stores
  • Oros — Fruit-Based Drinks
  • Pick n Pay Smart Shopper — Loyalty Programmes
  • Vaseline — Personal Care
  • Engen — Petrol Stations
  • Spur — Sit-Down Restaurants
  • Coca-Cola — Soft Drinks
  • Vodacom — Telecommunications Providers
  • KOO — Tinned Foods
  • Capfin— Pep and Ackermans stores and Micro-Lenders
  • Soccer Laduma — Weekly Newspapers
Samsung was awarded as the Top Brand in three categories:
  • Electronic Goods
  • Cellphones
  • Large Kitchen Appliances
The Long-Term Insurance and Short-Term Insurance awards went to Old Mutual Group and Old Mutual Insure respectively. In addition to its Online Banking award, Capitec was also the winner in the Retail Banks category.

Business Categories

Samsung claimed the Grand Prix award as the 2019 Business Overall Favourite Brand. Emirates claimed second place, with the Apple iPhone in third. Vodacom received the Business Social Investment Award, followed by FNB and Nedbank in second and third place respectively.

Nedbank improved on its third-place ranking in 2018 to take the top spot in 2019 and claimed the Business Green Award for the preservation of the natural environment. Woolworths placed second, with FNB in third place.

Four new categories were surveyed in the Business sector in 2019. The winners in the new categories are:
  • Sun International Hotels and Resorts — Hotels
  • DHL — Courier Companies
  • Vodacom Fibre — Fibre to the business Providers
  • Emirates — International Airlines
Other category winners include:
  • British Airways — Domestic Airlines 
  • Avis — Car Hire Companies
  • Discovery Life — Long-Term Insurance
  • Santam — Short-Term Insurance
  • FNB — Corporate Banks 
  • Samsung — Cellphones
  • Vodacom — Telecommunications Providers 
  • Business Day — Business Print Media 
  • Allan Gray — Investment Companies
  • Discovery Health Medical Scheme — Medical Aid Companies 
  • and Jameson — Whiskey, Brandy, Vodka and Gin Brands
Samsung and Vodacom were the only brands to win across both Consumer and Business categories.

The 2019 Robyn Putter Award for creative agencies

The Robyn Putter Award aims to recognise the contributions made by creative agencies in support of winning brands. The winner is decided upon through a points system, based on the performance of its clients in the Sunday Times Top Brands Survey. The 2019 recipient is Ogilvy South Africa.

The complete results of the 2019 Sunday Times Top Brands Survey will be published in a supplement that accompanies the Sunday Times newspaper on Sunday, 22 September. The Sunday Times Top Brands Awards event is managed by Tiso Blackstar Events.

For more information, visit www.tisoblackstarevents.co.za.