Which are the top 10 fastest-growing brands in Malaysia?

Affin Bank is the fastest-growing Malaysian brand in 2022. According to the latest Brand Finance Malaysia 100 ranking, Affin Bank's brand value jumped by 45% this year to US$232 million. Top Glove (+44% to US$499 million) and Genting (+44% to US$4.5 billion) were tied as the next fastest-growing Malaysian brand, followed by TIME dotCom and Unifi.

Affin Bank doubled its net profit this year, the bank has achieved growth as it increased its issuance of loans because of consumer spending in the region. The brand’s Brand Strength Index (BSI) also jumped 7.8 points this year, owing to an improvement in consumer perceptions such as "value for money" according to research conducted by Brand Finance coupled with the company’s commitment to ESG resulting in an improvement in BSI scores.

Meanwhile, the brand value of Top Glove has grown also strongly in connection with the increase in demand for gloves globally. According to Brand Finance, Top Glove has developed a strong reputation amongst stakeholders for its glove products and is now producing up to a quarter of gloves in the world.

Aside from being one of the fastest-growing brands in the country, Genting was also named the second most valuable Malaysian brand in 2022, surpassing Maybank while PETRONAS topped the charts. According to Brand Finance, Genting is placing greater emphasis on maximising its overall operational efficiency by intensifying performance, optimising its databases, the quality of its services and its marketing strategy with the ultimate goal to elevate the customer experience. Looking ahead, Genting has further opportunities for growth as its major operations in Singapore and Malaysia become more accessible to more tourists, especially from mainland Asia.

Meanwhile, PETRONAS saw its brand value rise by 13% to US$13.6 billion. The brand value of Petronas is worth just over three times as much as Genting. Overall, the brand values of many big Malaysian brands have returned to growth as the nation looks beyond the pandemic, with Malaysia's 100 most valuable brands worth 21% (US$ 9.3 billion) more in 2022 (US$53.7 billion) than they were worth in 2021 (US$44.4 billion).

Airlines are also bouncing back. AirAsia, whose brand value rose 18% to US$1.4 billion, retained the ninth position in the 100 most valuable brands this year, far from the second and last airline company included in Brand Finance's ranking - Malaysia Airlines. The national carrier, which had a 15% jump in brand value to US$200 million, was ranked 44 this year, one position higher than 2021.

AirAsia's revenue increase in the first quarter of the year was attributed to improved demand and further easing travel restrictions across the key markets in the region. The brand has also made new appointments to its management team and plans to diversify its business during 2022, especially since the launch of the airasia Super App, Brand Finance said.

Meanwhile, Mah Sing and IHH both jumped 10 places in the ranking to 56th and 67th place respectively. Mah Sing's brand value increased 35% to US$130 million and IHH's increased 38% to US$87 million, Brand Finance said. 

Mah Sing’s projects continued to record a rebound in sales momentum as the reopening of the country’s borders and the transition to the COVID-19 endemic phase spurred a recovery in economic activities. The group plans to hive off its rubber glove business which contributed to accelerate its growth, after venturing into the segment only 19 months ago under the Mah Sing Healthcare banner as the demand for rubber gloves has decelerated sharply.

On its part, IHH is working to align itself with three major trends that have begun to shape the healthcare industry: healthcare being delivered digitally, growing consumer demand for greater transparency and improved public-private collaboration. The hospital operator said that Covid-19 accelerated the group's efforts to innovate, leverage synergies and build platforms for growth.

Which are the strongest brands in Malaysia?

In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance. Brand Finance’s assessment of stakeholder equity incorporates original market research data from over 100,000 respondents in more than 35 countries and across nearly 30 sectors.

According to these criteria, Maybank (brand value up 7% to US$3.9 billion) is Malaysia’s strongest brand, with a BSI of 89.1 out of 100 (up by 2.3 points) and a corresponding AAA brand strength rating. Maybank overtakes PETRONAS (87.7 out of 100) in the strength ranking in 2021 and Digi (79.2 out of 100).

Every year, leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the biggest brands to the test, and publishes nearly 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries. Malaysia’s top 100 most valuable and strongest brands are included in the Brand Finance Malaysia 100 2022 ranking.

Brand value is understood as the net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market. Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors.

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