In it’s second year running the Briggs & Associates survey continues to be the leading barometer of consumer sentiments towards brands in the country. The survey of the most recognized brands in Botswana was recently released with more than 1000 people sampled across the country including different age groups, genders and economic status.
Top Brand Index is measured using 3 parameters being awareness, usage and preference of a particular brand. The survey gives an idea of which brands are used more by consumers by combining the three elements to get a consolidated score.
Ladies love Hunter’s
According to the survey, the cider category has a lot of consumer uncertainty. It suggests that Hunter’s is the preferred cider in Botswana at 38.7%, followed by Savanna at 26.6%, Redds’ at 26% and finally Core at 4%. The ciders category has a strong female bias, but males have the purchasing power as they are usually the ones paying for the product. Hunter’s is the top brand, however there is a substantial drop in consumer preference, Savanna showed improvement across all measures while Redd’s maintains its position but loses stakeholder share by 2%. Core although still in the top four had a significant drop.
Tastic is the leading essential food
In this category a wide range of brands were mentioned but Tastic was the iconic essential food brand with 27.3%, followed by White Star with 15. 7%, Super A1 with 10.1% and Fatti’s & Moni’s with 7.3%. There is a significant growth of 22.5% on the use and 21.8% on the preference of the White Star brand but there was a massive improvement for the Super A1 brand with good representation on all measures (knowledge, use and preference). Meanwhile, the Fatti’s & Moni’s brand dropped on all measures as many other pasta brands feature this year but are still individually smaller.
Black Label is the king of beers
Beer is an integral part of Batswana social life and Carling Black Label was named the leading brand in the country with 38%, followed by Castle Lite with 18.3%, St Louis with 12.9 % and lastly Heineken with 8.2%. Throughout the liquor levy, beer consumption has stayed the main driver in alcohol volumes. Brand affiliations have changed due in part to the levy, but new branding and social awareness and imaging is changing the awareness of the brands. There are a core group that are represented nationally, although certain categories are strong on regional representation. There is a substantial drop of 29.5% in preference for Carling Black Label beer while Castle Lite maintains its strong performance. Botswana’s own St Louis lost share due to the alcohol levy but making a comeback and Heineken is highly rated as a preferred brand with 14.9%.
Botswana is Toyota country
Botswana has been dominated by the Toyota brand for many years, particularly in the SUV and small sedan sector . Other brands have been making inroads but are still small in comparison to Toyota that is which lead the automobile industry with 40.4%. BMW follows at the second leading brand with 15.1%, Honda at 8.9% and Nissan with 6.2%. Toyota is the most mentioned brand due to its long history in the country and BMW’s performance is surprising as this is a luxury market vehicle with very low relative usage, indicating the aspirational aspect of the brand. The Honda brand on the other hand is a clear example of imports affecting brand awareness surveys. It has relatively high usage of 13.8%, but low preference of 5.7%. The Nissan brand has grown on awareness with 6.9% and preference of 7.3% but its usage is still low with 4.3%.