By NJIRAINI MUCHIRA

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With rising competition and as customers become more enlightened, sensitive and critical, companies in East Africa are investing more in strong and trustworthy brands.

And with globalisation, the push towards excellence is becoming more paramount for companies seeking to expand their tentacles beyond their borders.

Now Superbrands East Africa, is spearheading the drive to put companies in the region on the global map by subjecting them to independent market surveys and awarding them the prestigious Superbrands status.

The firm identifies and pays tribute to exceptional brands by recognising, rewarding and reinforcing leading brands, something that it does through the Superbrands award scheme and promotional programmes.

“Superbrands is a third party endorsement for outstanding brands that are always leading in recognition, customer and employee satisfaction,” said Jawad Jaffer, Superbrands East Africa project director.

He added that Superbrands status sets the brand apart from its competitors.

By conducting consumer surveys, the firm offers companies credibility not only among consumers, employees and other stakeholders but also potential investors. This is because using the survey it is able to access the position of companies based on quality, reliability and distinction.

On quality, the survey gauges whether the brand represent quality products and services, on reliability whether it can be trusted to deliver consistently on its promises and on distinction whether it is well known in its sector and is suitably differentiated from its competitors.

Notably, the survey is conducted by an independent consultant, the Centre for Brand Analysis. It involves sampling 1,000 respondents in each of the East African nations for companies operating across 28 sectors cutting across financials, telecommunications, media, retail, oil and gas, leisure and entertainment, clothing & footwear, food & beverages, humanitarian organisations among others.

“In the past brands in East Africa were not being recognised. Now we are exposing them to global audiences because investors want to know about them,” explained Jaffer.

Over the past two years, money transfer service M-Pesa, its parent company Safaricom, humanitarian organisation Kenya Red Cross, and Kenya’s leading newspaper Daily Nation have stood out as Kenya’s leading brands as voted for by consumers.

Superbrands is gearing to unveil the leading brands for 2018 not only for Kenya but also other East African nations as opposed to previous surveys were the region was combined.

This year, Superbrands is celebrating its 10th anniversary operating in East Africa. Having established a strong footing and widespread acceptance, with its seal now regarded as the authority that every top brand must have, the firm is determined to continue ensuring companies in East Africa are top brands.