Brand survey acknowledges Glo as regional powerhouse

The modest successes recorded by Globacom over the years have continued to earn the telecoms giant plaudits. One of such recognition was the recent award by Brand Africa, which ranked it as the 4th most admired African brand.

The 2017/2018 Most Admired Brands survey conducted by Brand Africa and published in African Business magazine, Globacom was ranked 4th in the Top 10 Most Admired African Brands (unprompted).

Besides, the company was also rated 5th in the Top 25 Most Admired African Brands (prompted).

The ranking of the wholly owned Nigerian brand among the Top 5 in Africa consolidates Globacom’s reputation as a fast growing household name and also propels the company closer to its vision of becoming the biggest and best telecommunications solutions provider in Africa.

The Brand Africa report noted “an incredible consistency among the companies that featured in the survey with 60% of the top brands being present in both the unprompted and prompted surveys.”

The brands include Globacom, Dangote, Shoprite, Safaricom and Tusker of Kenya and Ethiopia’s Anbessa.

Other African brands that made the 2018 Top 25 include Jumia and UBA of Nigeria, MTN, DSTV, Tiger Brands and Amarula of South Africa, Econet and Kwese of Zimbabwe, Ankara Clothing of Ghana, Tusker of Kenya, Africell of Gambia and Ecobank of Togo.

The Brand Africa survey also showed that Nike of the USA is the Most Admired foreign brand in Africa. The Sports and Fitness company was followed by Samsung and Adidas of Germany, Coca-Cola of USA and Apple also of USA.

Globacom has in its 15 years of business built a reputation as an authentic African brand with its extensive network across West African countries where it operates including Nigeria and Ghana.

The operator is renowned for its innovative and affordable offerings as well as investments in telecom infrastructure in Africa such as the Glo 1; its wholly owned submarine cable which links over 14 countries in Africa with Europe and North America.

Study mechanics and objectives

Brand Africa founder and Chairman, Thebe Ikalafeng, said that the study was conducted by Brand Africa partners, GeoPoll , leading research firm in emerging markets, with analysis and insights by  Kantar TNS, the world’s largest insight information research firm, and Brand Leadership, Africa’s premier branding advisory firm.

He stated that Brand Africa 100 is a valuation and ranking of the Best Brands in Africa. “The valuation is a multi-tier royalty relief methodology that blends a brand’s financial performance and consumer admiration to create a unique index and ranking. One of the primary drivers of Africa’s growth lies in stimulating and growing thriving African and global businesses and brands in Africa. Consumers are the ultimate arbiters of that success. Thus the Brand Africa 100 signals which brands are getting it right on the continent,” he explained.

Tagged: ‘The Brand Africa 100 Table’, it was developed by Brand Leadership Academy in partnership with TNS, the globally respected consumer knowledge and information company and Brand Finance Plc, the world’s leading independent valuation consultancy, which seeks to identify, acknowledge and promote African and global brands that are catalysts for Africa’s growth, reputation and value. Its ranking is based on a methodology that blends a brand’s financial performance and consumer admiration scores to create a unique index and ranking,” Ikalafeng added.

Building the Globacom brand

Since inception, Globacom has established a strong pedigree as a pan-Africa brand with phenomenal equity. In addition to delivering premium telecommunication services to consumers in markets where it operates, Globacom has pioneered several innovations including the famous and much cherished Per Second Billing (PSB) which it made history as the first network to introduce at launch in Africa.

The brand further endeared itself to its subscribers by crashing the cost of telephony and making it accessible to millions of people. It crashed the cost of SIM cards which sold for between N20,000 and N25,000 to as low as N200. It also ensured that subscribers are able to make calls by crashing the cost of calls from N50 per minute to as low as 5 kobo at the time.

Innovations

Globacom has also through the introduction of innovative products and services consistently supported efforts to empower people and accelerate national development in the markets where it operates. Among the revolutionary products pioneered by Globacom in the country are Blackberry, vehicle tracking, mobile internet, mobile banking, multimedia messaging service (MMS), Prepaid Roaming, in-flight roaming services, voice SMS, Magic Plus and Text2email. This has made it not just a household name but also an enviable brand in the eyes of the general public.

Globacom is also the first network to launch the 4G-LTE network in Nigeria, thus putting Nigeria in the League of Nations where Long Term Evolution (LTE) has continued to gain ground. The service is available in several cities across Nigeria and has availed users the benefits of exceptionally fast and reliable internet services. Based on its National Optic Fibre coverage, Globacom’s Global Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) service provides scalable virtual private networks (VPNs) and end-to-end quality of service (QoS), enabling efficient utilisation of provisional networks to meet future growth and rapid fault correction of link and node failure.

Sustaining brand touch points

Glo is well known for its outstanding performance in the countries where it has its footprints, for its contributions to economic growth and for its investments in sports, arts and entertainment. It has continued to make telephony more available with its reliable networks and competitive tariffs. It has also invested heavily in sports through several sponsorships in Nigeria and beyond. For over 10 years it sponsored the annual CAF African Football Awards in several countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and Togo, further etching its name in the minds of millions of sports lovers on the continent. It also sponsored the national teams and premier leagues of Nigeria and Ghana for several years.

Globacom has also gained top of mind awareness and strong recall in Africa and beyond due to its strategic support for the promotion of the music industry and film industry such as Nollywood and Ghollywood. Many of the leading musicians and thespians are Glo ambassadors and they fly the brand’s flag on the continent and beyond. It also sponsors very popular TV programmes such as Professor Johnbull, Hush, Battleground which endears it to entertainment lovers.

It has also for several years been the sponsor of CNN African Voices, a programme which celebrates heroic Africans in different fields of human endeavour. It also brought highly popular shows such as the X Factor, the world’s biggest music reality TV show; Glo Naija Sings; Dance with Peter; Manchester United partnerships and live telecast of English Premier League on DSTV to the homes and screens of entertainment lovers.

The latest survey report by Brand Africa thus underscores Globacom’s growing international recognition or footprint. It is also a recognition of its contribution to Africa’s economic growth and reputation. It is no surprise that Globacom made the list. But while it celebrates this honour, the onus is on the network to strive for the number one position on the Brand Africa annual survey.

(0 votes) 0/5
Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on whatsapp
WhatsApp
Share on email
Email
[oa_social_login]
[oa_social_login]