View the full Brand Finance Vietnam 50 2020 report here
Every year, leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance puts thousands of the world’s top brands to the test, evaluating which are the most valuable and strongest.
Brand Finance Asia Pacific has just released the Brand Finance Vietnam 50 2020 report – the annual report on Vietnam’s most valuable and strongest brands.
Viettel, VNPT, Vinamilk, Vinhomes and Sabeco dominate the top 5 once again with a combined brand value of over US$13 billion. Viettel has retained its position at the top, with a brand value of US$5.8 billion. VNPT has maintained second position with a brand value of US$2.4 billion, followed by Vinamilk in third, with a brand value of US$2.1 billion.
The top 10 brands in the ranking have a combined brand value of US$17.7 billion, equating to 68% of the total brand value in the ranking. This highlights the significant effort required by the brands outside of the top 10 to improve their brand strength and boost revenue growth if they wish to compete against the leading brands across the nation.
There are two new entrants in this year’s ranking: Agribank which has entered the ranking in 6th and HDBank in 31st.
Samir Dixit, Managing Director of Brand Finance Asia Pacific highlighted that “Viettel has once again shown its dominance across Vietnam as its claims the title of the nation’s most valuable brand for the 5th consecutive year. While many brands in the ranking have performed well this year in terms of brand value, it is brand strength that provides an opportunity for growth. With the top 10 in a league of their own, smaller Vietnamese brands should focus on their brand strength if they want to begin to rise as true competitors to the leading brands.”
Samir also commented: “Vietnamese companies need to be more brand-driven and not sales or offers-driven. While helping to sell in the short term, this strategy could destroy the long-term value and strength of the brand. Brand has got to be a strategic agenda for the senior management and boards and must be managed like any other business asset and not just a legal trademark.”
Vietcombank is nation’s strongest
In addition to measuring overall brand value, Brand Finance also evaluates the relative strength of brands, based on factors such as marketing investment, familiarity, loyalty, staff satisfaction, and corporate reputation. Alongside revenue forecasts, brand strength is a crucial driver of brand value.
This year, Vietcombank has overtaken BIDV to become the nation’s strongest brand, with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 83.2 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA- brand strength rating. Vietcombank, Viettel and Vinamilk are now the only three Vietnamese brands with the AAA- brand strength rating.
Brand strength is an important indicator of a brand’s competitiveness within the market. Across the ranking, Vietnamese brands has remained fairly stagnant in terms of brand strength. While brands may be performing well locally, they have been losing out to other key competitors within the region.
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.