View the full Brand Finance Kuwait 10 2023 report here
KPC (brand value up 5% to US$4.1 billion) continues its reign as the most valuable Kuwaiti brand. The nation’s flagship petroleum company has achieved modest brand value growth in part due to its stature as a reliable supplier of petroleum products in the context of unstable global geopolitical conditions.
Every year, leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance puts thousands of the world’s biggest brands to the test, and publishes over 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries. Kuwait’s top 10 most valuable and strongest brands in the sector industry are included in the annual Brand Finance Kuwait 10 2023 ranking.
KPC, like many other oil companies, is responding to the challenges posed by the global transition to low-carbon energy solutions. To address these challenges, KPC has taken several steps to improve sustainability. The Clean Fuels Project has been commissioned to produce low-sulfur fuels that meet Euro-5 standards and reduce carbon emissions. In addition, KPC is piloting a project to capture and inject CO2 from its operations into reservoirs, which both removes carbon from the atmosphere and frees up natural gas for other uses.
Kuwaiti banks Boubyan (brand value up 33% to US$255 million) and Kuwait Finance House (brand value up 31% to US$1.2 billion) are the fastest-growing Kuwaiti brands in the Kuwait 10 ranking this year.
The Boubyan brand is intensely focused on using technology developments to build its brand and business to government, corporate and consumer customers. It has launched several first-to-market innovations, including PayMe, which has become a popular service in Kuwait. Boubyan Bank also recently launched Nomo Bank, the first Islamic digital bank in Kuwait and the UK.
Kuwait Finance House’s brand value growth came in part due to the acquisition of Ahli United Bank in Bahrain, and increasingly being seen as a leader in the Islamic banking world. The Kuwait Finance House is now the largest listed company on the Boursa Kuwait stock exchange and is now also listed on the Bahrain stock exchange, giving it easier access to capital and making it more accessible to investors. Continuing to bolster its brand image, Kuwait Finance House is also becoming increasingly known for its community, relief and humanitarian initiatives both inside and outside of Kuwait.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance. Compliant with ISO 20671, Brand Finance’s assessment of stakeholder equity incorporates original market research data from over 150,000 respondents in 38 countries and across 31 sectors.
Zain (brand value up 5% to US$2.5 billion) was found to have the strongest brand in the Kuwaiti ranking with its brand strength score of 77/100 and brand rating of AA+, maintaining its score from last year.
Zain added 3.5 million active subscribers this year, and now serve a total of 52 million customers, a 7% increase from the previous year. Zain has been particularly boosted in the business-to-business market with strong enterprise revenue growth and acquisition of extra cloud-related services such as BIOS Middle East.
Andrew Campbell, Managing Director, Middle East, Brand Finance commented:
“Zain’s performance is reflective of its strong brand, which it continues to leverage to consumers. Post-pandemic increased economic activity has had a positive effect on its brand attributes, complemented with their investments in both wired and wireless expansion and upgrades.”
Burgan Bank (brand value up 6% to US189 million) is the newest entrant in 10th on the back of strong performance in retail banking and growing client acquisitions. It is one of the largest conventional banks in the country with a strong presence in corporate banking. There is a key focus to strengthen the corporate banking segment while growing the Retail banking segment by embedding ESG across the business through digital transformation to deliver superior customer experience.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance for more than 25 years, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organizations of all kinds make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance has offices in over 20 countries, offering services on all continents. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 5,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on over 5,000 brands, surveying more than 150,000 respondents across 38 countries and 31 industry sectors. Combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database enables Brand Finance to arm brand leaders with the data and analytics they need to enhance brand and business value.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm, leading the standardization of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
