Which SA brands have generated the most buzz in the second quarter of 2023?

Market research agency KLA, the exclusive sub-Saharan partner of global public opinion and data company YouGov, has released the results of its third Quarterly Buzz.

The Quarterly Buzz is an evaluation of SA's top brands according to public perception, measured daily for three months. (The first Quarterly Buzz was unveiled in January 2023.)

Powering the Quarterly Buzz is YouGov's BrandIndex tool, which continuously monitors more than 190 local brands across seven sectors. This tool works across 16 metrics that cover the marketing funnel. One of these metrics is the Buzz metric, hence the name Quarterly Buzz.

The Buzz metric specifically measures consumer perception: whether consumers have heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the past two weeks. The performance score achieved can range from +100 to -100, with a net score reflecting a brand's overall performance relative to its competitors.

These Buzz scores are tallied up over a three-month period for the Quarterly Buzz results. The top 10 performing brands across all sectors, and the top five brands within each sector, are declared that quarter's “brand winners”. 

The results of the third Quarterly Buzz account for the second quarter of 2023 (April 1 to June 30) 

Brand winners in the second quarter of 2023

KLA’s Quarterly Buzz brand winners present an overview of the current market landscape in terms of the Buzz metric.

Retailers in the food, groceries and consumable sector continued to feature prominently in the list of the top 10 performing brands across all sectors. Such retailers accounted for six of the 10 brand winners — an increase of two brands from the previous quarter's results.

The two new entrants, Spar and Food Lover’s Market, which ranked ninth and tenth respectively, showed a significant improvement on the Buzz metric and across other metrics in the funnel. (Such metrics include Awareness, Ad Awareness and Attention.)

Of those retailers that made a return to the top 10 this quarter, Checkers remained in third place, while Shoprite moved up a spot to eighth place. Pick n Pay trended upward, overtaking Woolworths Food to claim second place.

It's important to highlight that while six of the top 10 brands experienced notable declines on the Buzz metric last quarter, there is evident recovery in this quarter.

Looking at the results across all 16 tracked metrics, Takealot (specifically the automotive department that includes the sale of car accessories) and Pick n Pay dominated this quarter.

Takealot maintained its overall brand performance with substantial growth in ad awareness, word of mouth, reputation and satisfaction perceptions. On the other hand, Pick n Pay exhibited significantly better satisfaction perceptions in the market.

Focusing on the Buzz metric, the sector-specific results showcased a relatively stable top five brand winners within each sector compared to last quarter. There were a few new entrants across three of the seven sectors tracked. Notably, Caltex, Spur and 1st for Women all entered at the fifth rank in their respective categories.

For more information about the Quarterly Buzz, visit the KLA website or email enquiries@kla.co.za

This article was sponsored by KLA.