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KFC, McDonald's among top 10 most powerful brands in China

July 30, 2013

Millward Brown has announced the 20 most powerful brands in China, a list dominated by U.S. brands and led by KFC. McDonald's is also on the list, at No. 7.

Thirteen brands on the list are American with two each from Germany and France and one from Italy. Samsung was the only Asian brand to make the list, and 11 of the 20 brands are also among the BrandZ Top100 Most Valuable Global Brands.

"International brands represent many things to Chinese consumers," said Oscar Yuan, vice president at Millward Brown Optimor. "One is trust. In the last three years the brand trust for Chinese brands has eroded as scandals and quality issues have impacted some Chinese products. Secondly, international brands are a symbol of prestige and good taste, appealing to the rapidly growing middle class in China. Lastly, international brands often do bring unique points of view to specific categories, the way that Apple has brought design and beauty to electronics. For the Chinese consumer, the desire for quality and experience results in an environment ripe for international brands to make inroads with the 1.3 billion Chinese consumers."

The brands, ranked by Millward Brown's Brand Power Index, all scored high for the following attributes:

• Meaningful: Meeting relevant needs in a product category and being more loved than competitors;
• Different in a positive way;
• Salient: Top-of-mind ahead of others as the best answer for the needs of that category.

These brands capture five times the average volume share, command a 13 percent price premium, and grow four times the average value share. Millward Brown conducted this research between 2011 and 2013 with more than 60,000 consumers in 10 Chinese cities.

The Brand Power Index average score is 100. KFC, at No. 1, has a score of 564. It is followed by Pampers (482), Colgate, 424), Olay (371), Crest (355), Apple (336) and McDonald's (324).

UK/Netherlands-based Omo is No. 8 at 286, followed by Coca-Cola with 281. France's Carrefour rounds out the top 10 with 260.

The Chinese market contributes about half of Yum! Brands' overall profits. The company has about 4,400 KFC units in about 850 cities in China. It first entered the market in 1987.

McDonald's plans to open 300 restaurants in mainland China this year, which would put the Golden Arches' count at 2,000 units overall in the country.

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