As YouGov launches BrandIndex in Egypt

Dubai, UAE: Monday 18 January 2016: Facebook is the most positively perceived brand in Egypt according to the 2015 BestBrand Rankings released today by global market research company, YouGov.

Following the launch of YouGov's flagship daily brand tracker, BrandIndex, in Egypt in July last year, the health of over 170 brands have been tracked daily across six sectors simultaneously in the country. The BestBrand Rankings are created using BrandIndex's Buzz score, which is calculated by asking respondents daily if they "have heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word-of-mouth".

View the 2015 BestBrand Rankings in Egypt

Technology brands appear to be making the biggest positive impression on Egypt residents in the second half of 2015, with the top three ranks consumed by Internet and social media giants, Facebook, Google and YouTube respectively.

According to BrandIndex, the world's most popular social media platform, with one of the largest followings in the Middle East region from Egypt, won the battle for positive sentiment and kicks off the Egypt Rankings at the top of the leaderboard.

Google caught the headlines last year with new and updated services including Google Traffic and Google Partners and sits six points behind in second place. Rounding up the Rankings top three is video sharing giant YouTube which engaged its billion worldwide user-base with a redesigned mobile app in the second half of last year.

Following suit, new product launches from iconic mobile brands Samsung and iPhone secure seats just behind the middle of the leaderboard in sixth and seventh place respectively.

Despite the dominance of the digital powerhouses, household banking and food brands also demonstrate their ability to make a positive connection with residents. The largest and oldest commercial bank in the country, the National Bank of Egypt is the highest non-technological and home-grown brand in the Rankings in fourth place. Promotional campaigns including a collaboration with MasterCard to reward customers with gold bullions also caused a stir for fellow banking brand Banque Misr in 2015 who rounds up the rankings in tenth place.

Large food favourites Galaxy, Almarai and Kit Kat are also giving the digital brands a run for their money successfully connecting with consumers in a positive light to gain fifth, eighth and ninth place respectively.

Kailash Nagdev, Managing Director for YouGov in the MENA region commented, "Expanding YouGov BrandIndex into Egypt is an important development for brands looking to understand their impression on the daily lives of the consumers in one of the largest markets in the region."

"The BestBrand Rankings demonstrate digital-based brands have the highest positive traction amongst Egypt consumers but large home-grown food and banking names are also successfully competing to make their mark. As witnessed in other global markets, it will be interesting to see if more brands will adopt digital mediums to engage consumers, or if traditional approaches can achieve just as much cut through over the coming months."

-Ends-

BrandIndex Buzz is measured by asking respondents daily if they have 'heard anything positive or negative about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word-of-mouth'. Respondents are interviewed from YouGov's online panel.

Buzz scores are based on a two week rolling average ranging from 100 to -100, and are compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback. They measure recent brand sentiment and indicate the level and direction of recent awareness (positive or negative) about a brand.

The Buzz Rankings show the brands with the highest average Buzz scores between July and December 2015. All Buzz scores have been rounded to a single decimal place.

For media enquires please contact: Antonia Stockwell | +44 7876 899 727 | antonia.stockwell@yougov.com

© Press Release 2016