China Mobile, Nokia, Nike lead China's most engaging brands : R3

The study for Q1 in 2011 identifies which brands are connecting most effectively and efficiently with Chinese consumers. 

Entitled 'En Spire', the study is conducted every three months across ten cities in China with a target audience of more than 10,500 respondents of 15 to 40 years-old. It looks at three critical factors in terms of preference within its category, engagement, and brand values that affecting brand engagement and aspiration in China.

“China Mobile continues to lead because of its strong brand values and high preference, well above China Telecom and China Unicom” said Sunny Chen, senior researcher for R3. "While Nokia performs well in both these factors too, Nike on the other hand leads for strong engagement and association with stars and media in China.”

Despite appearances by China brands like Lenovo, Li Ning and Mengniu in the top ten, local brands are still to lacking behind their foreign competitors. 

“Only 19 of the Top 50 brands are local companies, which suggests there are still some gaps in terms of the way they are building preference and values in China” added Chen.  “The next few years will be critical to their future growth and success” she added.

R3’s research also looked at China’s strongest online social media, video and shopping brands, which  Q-Zone, the social media portal from Tencent and gains the popularity from young Chinese netizens.

Among online shopping sites, Taobao remains the leading player, but the study reveals that Dangdang and 360Buy are closing the gap quickly with high consumer engagement.