Tellas, Wind, TeliaSonera and others underperform
The three most valuable mobile telecoms brands in Europe are Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange, according to Intangible Business, a company that values brands.
Intangible Business has carried out an assessment of the brand value of mobile operators across the world, looking at a range of measures such as subscriber numbers and revenues, as well as market share, brand perception and heritage.
It found that in Europe, Vodafone has a brand value of £22 billion, with T-Mobile at $16.8 billion and Orange at $15.4 billion.
The top brands globally are China Mobile, Vodafone, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.
But with the next three positions on its European chart occupied by brands owned by Telefonica (Movistar, TEM and O2), it could be argued that it is Telefoncia which is sitting on the biggest brand asset base.
Intangible Business also looked at companies that it says are “punching below their weight” in terms of their brand – in other words, the difference between a brand’s rank by income and rank by brand.
It found several European operators are underperforming in terms of brand value – with the worst culprits being Tellas, Proximus, Wind, Bouygues and TeliaSonera.
So why carry out this assessment of brand value? William Grobel, marketing director of Intangible Business ,said that brand strength will be vital in the current climate.
“Brands are generally the main differentiator in the largely commoditised telecoms industry. This research highlights just how valuable telecoms brands are. Collectively, the top 100 are worth over $300bn. China Mobile’s ascendancy to the top has been impressive. With Chinese penetration levels not even at 50%, there is considerable scope for the brand’s value to dwarf its already impressive $31bn.”
Grobel added: “2009 is likely to see further consolidation with a preference for acquisitions over organic growth as assets become cheaper. This research helps identify which brands are performing well and which look vulnerable. Nowhere is immune from the global slowdown and the telecoms sector is no exception. Maintaining brand equity will be challenging for all.”
The three most valuable mobile telecoms brands in Europe are Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange, according to Intangible Business, a company that values brands.
Intangible Business has carried out an assessment of the brand value of mobile operators across the world, looking at a range of measures such as subscriber numbers and revenues, as well as market share, brand perception and heritage.
It found that in Europe, Vodafone has a brand value of £22 billion, with T-Mobile at $16.8 billion and Orange at $15.4 billion.
The top brands globally are China Mobile, Vodafone, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.
But with the next three positions on its European chart occupied by brands owned by Telefonica (Movistar, TEM and O2), it could be argued that it is Telefoncia which is sitting on the biggest brand asset base.
Intangible Business also looked at companies that it says are "punching below their weight" in terms of their brand – in other words, the difference between a brand's rank by income and rank by brand.
It found several European operators are underperforming in terms of brand value – with the worst culprits being Tellas, Proximus, Wind, Bouygues and TeliaSonera.
So why carry out this assessment of brand value? William Grobel, marketing director of Intangible Business ,said that brand strength will be vital in the current climate.
"Brands are generally the main differentiator in the largely commoditised telecoms industry. This research highlights just how valuable telecoms brands are. Collectively, the top 100 are worth over $300bn. China Mobile's ascendancy to the top has been impressive. With Chinese penetration levels not even at 50%, there is considerable scope for the brand's value to dwarf its already impressive $31bn."
Grobel added: "2009 is likely to see further consolidation with a preference for acquisitions over organic growth as assets become cheaper. This research helps identify which brands are performing well and which look vulnerable. Nowhere is immune from the global slowdown and the telecoms sector is no exception. Maintaining brand equity will be challenging for all."
The top fifty mobile telecoms brands by value in Europe (values in millions of US Dollars):
The top fifty mobile telecoms brands by value in Europe (courtesy: Intangible Business)
1 VODAFONE
2 T-MOBILE
3 ORANGE
4 MOVISTAR
5 TEM
6 O2
7 TIM
8 VIRGIN MOBILE
9 SFR
10 TELENOR
11 TURKCELL
12 BOUYGUES TÉLÉCOM
13 KPN
14 WIND
15 E-PLUS
16 TELIASONERA
17 KYIVSTAR
18 POLKOMTEL
19 SWISSCOM
20 ERA
21 COSMOTE OTE
22 MOBILKOM
23 PROXIMUS
24 TDC
25 MOBITEL
26 TMN
27 MOBISTAR
28 ELISA
29 TELE2
30 NETCOM
31 AVEA
26 TELLAS
32 OPTIMUS