The 2023/2024 Ask Afrika Icon Brands winners announced

“Not all brands reach Icon Brand status. Only 52 brands achieved this honour in 2023/2024. A further 50 brands were awarded platinum status, likely winners in future. Also, not all categories had Icon brands, as can be expected,” says Maria Petousis, executive: TGI and Benchmarks.

The Ask Afrika Icon Brands™ are defined as brands that are loved and trusted by South Africans. The benchmark survey celebrates brands across 195 product categories, and thousands of brands across hundreds of product categories were included in the initial analysis. This contextualises the prestige of being recognised as an Icon Brand.

The TGI Survey, a strategic, syndicated Usage and Attitude survey, forms the basis from which the Icon Brands results are sourced. The survey is the largest of its kind in South Africa, covering 18 sectors, hundreds of product categories and thousands of brands included in the measurement. 24,760 consumers were surveyed representing 28,680,000 adult South African consumers, and the data was weighted using Statistics South Africa’s mid-year population estimates.

Why brands achieve brand icon status

Lucky Star, Kiwi and Coca-Cola, the top three achievers of Icon Brand status all have an exceptional understanding of consumers, innovative spirit, and strong emotional connections. These brands have high levels of trust, quality, and consistency, and deliver products that resonate with lifestyles, bringing smiles to faces and contributing positively to communities.

Lucky Star’s major differentiator in claiming the top position is the successful conversion from awareness to being in the basket of the consumer.

How are the winners determined?

Icon, Platinum and Category Winners

Brands’ scores are calculated based on different metrics for distinct product categories as loyalty metrics differ for disparate markets. Where sample size allows, a unique brand and product category focus is provided.

Brands should bring joy

“It is no secret that consumers, locally and abroad, are living through a tough time. Society is fatigued from too much bad news and too little hope, looking for escape, positivity, and humour. Successful brands are helping people through these tough times by transporting them to emotion-inducing experiences. It is unsurprising in today’s times of uncertainty that people are looking for more forms of both escapism and sense-making of the world. We coined this the Joy Preposition,” says Petousis.

TGI data supports the importance of brands enabling these emotion-inducing experiences:

• People who are likely to buy from brands that bring them a sense of joy has doubled over time.
  
• 89% of people see fun as a necessity that keeps them going in tough times.
  
• 83% of consumers seek out experiences that bring them joy and happiness.

“We researched 235 brands, and a third of these had a slogan with an emotional tone, mostly from the food or consumable products industry. Many of these brands achieved Ask Afrika Icon Brands™ status,” Petousis explains.

Not only knowing, but understanding

With consumers having very little control over life-changing factors and events like wars, interest rate and price increases and load shedding, they are making their life circles smaller. “The ‘me’ is at the centre of their universes, which means that the customer should be at the centre of every brand. Knowing your customer is insufficient. Marketers should evolve from knowing to understanding customers, and the role their brand plays in the life the consumer is trying to live. This makes the use of data and insights to develop deep segmentation and marketing precision crucial for business success,” Petousis concludes.

Companies that would like to purchase bespoke Ask Afrika Icon Brands™ reports can contact Maria Petousis at az.oc.akirfaksa@sisuotep.airam.