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Telco Among the Top 10 Most Powerful Brands
By
Erik Linask
Associate Editor
Global market research firm Millward Brown has
released its latest ranking of the world’s most powerful brands. Among them, as might be
expected are familiar names, like Micrsosft, Google (News
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Alert), and Citibank.
But what might be slightly more unexpected is the
appearance of a telco in the top ten. In fact, China Telecom came in #4 in the rankings.
The top 10 are:
China Mobile is a key state-owned enterprise based on
the mobile business that split from the former China Telecom during the reform of China’s
communications industry. It provides basic mobile voice services as well as value-added
services, like data, IP telephone, and multimedia.
The new brand ranking is unique because it is the first
to combine consumer research with public financial data to measure the contributions
brands make to the bottom line. Additionally, it is the only ranking to quantify consumer
sentiment about a brand’s momentum and future prospects, and the first to focus on “market
facing” brands as opposed to corporate brands.
What that means is that a telco has not only the
financial size and stability to make the list, but it also has a corresponding consumer
recognition and favorability factor. Certainly, the size of the Chinese market hasn’t
hindered the firm’s progress, but there has also been a good marketing plan and high
quality product for the large population to latch on to.
To that extent, China Mobile has managed to grow
nationwide household brands, like “GoTone,” “Shenzhouxing,” and “M-Zone.” GoTone has seen
tremendous uptake among high-value customers for its superior value proposition;
innovative brands, like M-Zone have been widely adopted by the younger, fun-loving,
carefree generation.
Ultimately, however, China Mobile’s emergence in the
ranking is a testament to the overall growth rate of the communications industry — and
mobile communications, in particular. With groundbreaking technological advances like EV-DO
Revision B, WiFi/cellular convergence, and advanced security and transfer speeds, China
Mobile may yet be joined on this list by other telcos.
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