Samsung named top brand in Asia Pacific for 9th consecutive year

South Korean tech behemoth Samsung Electronics has been named Asia's most popular brand for the ninth consecutive year thanks to its investment in innovation, according to a report.

The Asia's top 1,000 brands report is put together from a survey conducted by Campaign Asia-Pacific in collaboration with Nielsen.

U.S. tech giant Apple came next, trailed by Panasonic of Japan, LG Electronics of South Korea and Switzerland-based food and drink conglomerate Nestle.

Samsung has been atop the brand popularity chart since 2012, while South Korean electronics giant LG's ranking is up two spots from 2019. Japan-based Sony Corp., which ranked fourth last year, placed sixth this year.

The ranking, which aggregates views from across 15 major product categories including automotive, retail, F-B and consumer electronics, is based on consumer insights and offers a clear measure of highly regarded brand names who are top of mind in the region.

Samsung was named number one across five categories in this year's Top 1000 Brands survey, including the strongest local brand, the brand with the best record on sustainability (new-to-2020 category), as well as the top brand in the mobile, TVs and smart home technology categories.

Campaign Asia-Pacific said Samsung has been picked as the leading brand in Asia for its sustained investment in innovative technologies, including foldable smartphones.

Samsung launched its first foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Fold, last year and unveiled its second foldable handset, the Galaxy Z Flip in February this year.

Apple remained in the second spot, followed by Panasonic in third. LG and Nestle rounded out the top five. Sony slipped from the top 5 for the first time, as LG gained. The Japanese electronics giant's struggles reflect a search for relevance in a fast-changing market where Korean competitors are ascendent, the report says.

Meanwhile, Facebook Messenger pipped WhatsApp in consumer's minds in the survey.

The survey was conducted between February 21 and March 19, 2020. The study explores consumer attitudes in 14 markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Participants gave their response to the following questions:

         Question 1: When you think of the following category, which is the best brand that comes to your mind? By best, we mean the one that you trust the most or the one that has the best reputation in this category.

         Question 2: Apart from the best brand that you entered, which brand do you consider to be the second best brand in the category?

         Question 3: What brand has the best record in sustainability?