Riyadh-based Almarai’s sealed its top spot came due to the way it has leveraged heavy digital multichannel marketing campaigns to engage consumers, according to YouGov, the international pollster.
“Almarai has continued to win positive appeal amongst residents since it took the top spot off Samsung in our Annual Rankings at the end of 2015,” the winner’s citation said.
“The largest vertically integrated dairy producer in the Middle East ignited social media in 2016 with the launch of its film on breastfeeding, which became the second-most shared video in the world within a week of launching. Almarai is also now the third most popular FMCG brand on Facebook.”
Published in 26 countries, the rankings are compiled using a “Buzz score” from YouGov’s daily flagship brand tracker, BrandIndex. Buzz asks 150 residents in each nation daily if they have “heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word-of-mouth”.
Pranay Dandekar, regional head of consumer research for YouGov, said: “Almarai has continued to create the highest brand Buzz scores of over 300 brands in Saudi Arabia throughout 2016 so far, and also features in the Egypt Top 10 Mid-Year Rankings in eighth place.
“Brands which demonstrate their affinity with digital assets are gaining in appeal and shining through in the rankings for the first-half of 2016. The ability of social media to connect with consumers in a real-time one-to-one and broadcast fashion has the power to create high levels of positive Buzz.”
Fast food chain Al Baik made an appearance in fifth place in the Saudi rankings, while Egypt’s increasing demand for chocolate saw both Galaxy and Kit Kat feature in the country’s top 10 rankings.