Qantas a loser in brand wars
Neil Shoebridge
Last years failed private equity bid and ongoing complaints about late flights and shoddy customers service have taken a toll on the Qantas brand.
Two years ago the marketing firm Principles and research company Synovate surveyed consumers to create a ranking of Australia's most authentic brands. Qantas topped the list, followed by Cadbury, Nokia and Bonds.
Principles and Synovate repeated the the research earlier this year, quizzing 4500 consumers (up from 2500 in 2006) about 104 brands (up from 70).
Qantas slumped to 14th place on the list of the most authentic brands. Microsoft and Google moved up the list from fifth and sixth respectively in the 2006 survey to first and second this year.
"The unsuccessful attempt to sell the airline to private equity firms and declining customer service standards have hurt the Qantas brand" Principles planning director Wayde Bull said.
"Qantas's standing as a heritage brand has declined because it does things that have raised doubts in consumers minds about its right to wrap itself in the Australian flag"
Qantas was not the only brand that scored lower on the Principles and Synovate authentic brand index, which is based on nine online surveys of consumers.
The surveys asked consumers about the 104 brands heritage, familiarity, personal utility, originality, momentum, sincerity and declared beliefs - that is, the philosophy behind the brands.
The seven area's were identified in the 2006 research as the key factors that shape a brand's authenticity.
ING direct posted the biggest decline on the index, sliding 9.7 point sot 20.3.
Synovate group managing director Dean Harris blamed the decline on ING's rivals copying its product and services in recent years.
"ING was seen as an innovator and pioneer in the financial services sector, but now a lot of other companies are offering similar products" he said.
"Its decline shows that challenger brands such as ING Direct need to keep challenging the market to stay ahead.
"They need to keep coming up with breakthrough innovations or consumers will quickly stop seeing them as challenger brands."
The average score across the brands Principle and Synovate covered was two points lower that the 2006 survey.
"Tougher economic conditions mean that people are tougher in their assessment of brands," Mr Bull said.
"People are also becoming more judgmental of brands and the extent to which they deliver on their word. We are all less accepting of marketing claims on face value.
"People have more access to critiques of brands, mainly via the internet, and companies have less control over the information being spread about their brands" he said.
Technology and communications brands were the star performers in this years survey, taking four spots in the list of the 10 most authentic brands.
"Brands such as Microsoft, Google and Sony have replaced food and beverage brands as the dominant fast-moving consumer brands" Mr Harris said.
"They touch peoples lives every day. They change all the time.
"They are focused on constant innovation."
Grocery wholesaler Metcash's retail brand IGA was the fastest rising brand on the Principles and Synovate index, jumping 14.5 points to a score of 34.5.
That put it in 29th place, just behind GlaxoSmithKline's Panadol and ahead of Kraft Food's Kraft.
"IGA's positioning as a community brand and an alternative to the big supermarket chains appeals to consumers," Mr Harris said.
"It is also a very simple positioning, one that is seen as sincere by many consumers."
The research also identified a large group of brands that Mr Bull described as "hollow icons", including David Jones, Myer, Telstra, Optus, Ford, John West, Sara Lee and the big four banks.
"These are brands that are familiar to most people but have no other level of engagement," he said.
"They're not seen as innovative or genuinely different of brands that add real value to peoples lives."
The study also also found a group of brands that Synovate and Principles called question marks.
There are brands that are relatively new and therefore unknown to many consumers, and brands that are losing their relevance.
The question marks category included AAPT, Rebel Sport, Virgin Mobile, Hyundai, Emirates, Skype and Jetstar.
Source:
AFR Monday 23/06/2008 Page 50