Brand Finance ® Brand Stories Beyond the BRICS: The New Emerging Markets

Nat ion Brands 100

Beyond the BriCs: The New emerging markets

47 © Brand Finance plc 2011

Beyond the BriCs: The New emerging markets

Emerging markets easily outperformed the developed economies on the 2011 BrandFinance® Nation Brands 100. While the two best performing emerging markets were, as might be expected, China and India, this should not obscure impressive growth in the brand value of other emerging markets. Clearly there are opportunities beyond the ‘big two’. The BrandFinance® Nation Brand 100 captures the rapid growth of the smaller emerging markets which are beginning to make their mark. Countries such as Mexico, Indonesia, and Korea are rapidly developing international brands with globally powerful reputations.

Constant talk about China becoming the world’s largest economy should not blind business leaders to the fact that Mexico and Indonesia are projected to have significantly larger economies than Britain in 40 years. Jim O’Neill, the Goldman Sachs partner who first described the “BRIC” countriesin 2001, has now coined the term “Next 11” to refer to Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam as increasingly important growing markets. This year’s BrandFinance® Nation Brands 100 captures the dynamism of these ‘emerging emerging markets’, and should remind business leaders to look beyond China when they search for high-growth prospects in the developing world.

All of the South East Asian brands covered by this year’s survey increased in value, with the smallest gain – Malaysia’s 8.9% - far outpacing the best-performing Western European brands. Strong scores on infrastructure and brand equity are seeing countries like Singapore and Indonesia gain in brand strength. Indonesia, especially, has potential for growth. As the world’s fourth largest country – and the world’s largest Muslim nation – as well as a thriving democracy, Indonesia is in a position to benefit from an increasingly strong global brand.

Meanwhile in North Asia, South Korea is often over-shadowed by its giant neighbours, Japan and Korea or stories about its nuclear-armed Northern neighbour. Forty years ago GDP per capita was comparable with the poorest African countries; now Korea is one of the richest countries in the world. The rise of Samsung – founded as a small noodle company in 1938 – as the world’s largest technology company mirrors the trajectory of a hyper-technological nation that promised in 2006 to put “a robot in every home”. South Korea’sbrand increased in value by 19.6% in 2011, as its technological prowess and addictive popular culture spreads across East Asia.

While Mexico more often makes the international news for its simmering drug war (a death toll of 36,000 over four years makes it bloodier than Afghanistan), the country is working to rebrand itself as a rising economic giant. With a population just smaller than Japan’s, Mexico exports more than Brazil or India, and has a per capita GDP that is twice China’s. Mexico was hit hard by the recession in America (it sends 85% of its exports there) but has recovered well. The country’s brand is the 15th most valuable in the world, and gained in value by 18.5% and was upgraded from BBB to A-. This upgrade was most powered up an increase in Mexico’s brand equity score from B to BBB.

This year’s Nation Brand 100 illustrates the spectacular rise of India and China, but also sheds light on impressive growth in the smaller emerging markets. International business leaders should understand that, while Korea or Mexico might not be aspiring superpowers, they will be major markets in the future.

48© Brand Finance plc 2011© Brand Finance plc 2011

www.brandfinance.com

The world’s leading independent brand

valuation consultancy