New Millward Brown Research Reveals iPhone Eclipses BlackBerry, Nokia and Sony Ericsson in Brand Strengths and Predicts Strong Sales in 2010
iPhone is set to become the mobile phone brand of choice for Australians, according to new research by Millward Brown, a global leader in brand, media and communications research.
A survey of 400 Australian mobile phone consumers conducted by Millward Brown as part of its 2009 BrandZ brand equity research, found iPhone was perceived to have more brand strengths than Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and BlackBerry.
In addition, iPhone’s brand ‘Voltage’ – a derived measure of the probability of growing brand share – is the highest ever seen in Australia. It suggests an almost certain increase in share in the next 12 months and mirrors 2009 BrandZ survey findings from other markets such as the USA and Brazil. iPhone’s nearest competitor, BlackBerry, also has a higher chance of growing share than losing it, although the degree of certainty was not as marked.
However, iPhone was outperformed by its rivals on a range of brand metrics including ‘Bonding’, a measure of current brand equity, with Nokia continuing to have the strongest relationship with consumers. iPhone came in second whilst the remaining three brands were equal third.
Overall, BlackBerry’s brand metrics increased from 2008 while there was some softening in the results for Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson.
According to Millward Brown’s Sydney Managing Director, Daren Poole, iPhone has made strong gains since it launched in July 2008.
“After little more than 12 months in the Australian market, iPhone has gained a strong brand position. Our research has confirmed it is now on par with Nokia in terms of popularity, even though only nine percent of those surveyed actually owned an iPhone. This bodes well for iPhone when those consumers upgrade their handsets.
“While there are still more than twice as many people who bond with Nokia than with iPhone, given its meteoric rise over the past year and the forecast for strong sales growth, the iPhone is well on the way to becoming Australia’s mobile phone brand of choice,” Mr Poole commented.
These findings follow Apple’s fourth quarter results announcement on October 19 which revealed iPhone sales rose 7 per cent to 7.4 million in the September 2009 quarter and 46 per cent of the Company’s revenue for the quarter came from international sales.
Apple was named the sixth most valuable brand in the world in the Millward Brown Optimor 2009 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking where it was also ranked fourth according to brand momentum, a measurement predicting short-term growth prospects.
About BrandZ
BrandZ is the world’s largest brand equity study. Commissioned by WPP and conducted annually by Millward Brown, the BrandZ study measures the brand equity of thousands of global “consumer facing” and business-to-business brands. It has interviewed over 1 million consumers globally. Over 20 categories have been researched in Australia. Mobile phone category data is collected each year via an online survey of 400 18-65 year olds who own or use a mobile phone.
Consumer perception of a brand is a key input in determining brand value because brands are a combination of business performance, product delivery, clarity of positioning, and leadership.
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About Millward Brown
Millward Brown is one of the world's leading research agencies with expertise in effective advertising, marketing communications,media and brand equity research (www.millwardbrown.com). The company employs more than 90 staff across Sydney and Melbourne, and has 77 offices in 50 countries. Through the use of an integrated suite of validated research solutions, both qualitative and quantitative, Millward Brown helps clients build strong brands and services. Millward Brown is part of Kantar, WPP's insight, information and consultancy group.