If only agencies – including regulators of various sectors – had prioritised periodic research into activities of companies, the banking sector could have been saved the troubles it is facing currently, CEO of Superbrands Ghana Fatima Alimohamed has said.

According to her, results of a research conducted a few months ago by her outfit to assess performances of brands in the country, showed how poorly the recently collapsed banks were faring. This, according to Ms. Fatima, could have been ascertained by the Bank of Ghana earlier.

“We didn’t need to see performance or financial results to know which banks were going to go down. Our research results spoke directly to consumers prior to the announcement by BoG, and show that all those collapsed banks, except for one at the bottom, never featured in the Top-of-Mind awareness list or in the last three months’ usage, or were even deemed as a Superbrand. This clearly shows where the people bank and who they trust with their money.

“The result speaks for itself when GCB, followed by Ecobank, were leading the banking sector even though there is room for improvement for Ecobank to take the lead – if not Fidelity or Barclays who featured in the top-five,” she added.

Superbrands Ghana, in June this year, initiated a research aimed at analysing consumer behaviour and perception about brands in Ghana.

The exercise involved 36 categories and over 750 brands, ranging from Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) to government bodies, insurance, finance, supermarkets, pharmaceuticals, electronics, automobiles and hospitals, among others.

Consumers across the country were engaged to give their views and approval of brands they chose, and reasons for choosing the said brands.

“We have observed a very interesting gap, or rather disconnect, when we look at some brands; as it is clear that there are brands the consumer perceive as a Superbrand yet are not being consumed by them.

“It is crucial for the brand and marketing teams and their agencies to understand that their brand market share is not the only measure of performance to present to their boards. Mind-share is also crucial for success,” Ms Fatima noted at a brief meeting with the media to disclose outcomes of the research.

She urged companies to take research seriously to determine their fate on the market. She said: “My issue with typical companies is they only get data; they only prefer to go and research and get data. Nobody has taken data and converted it into information and then taken it to the next level to convert it into intelligence.

“What we have done is got the data and converted it into intelligence – and realised that those brands didn’t feature; and if they did not feature in the first place, then they never should have been in the market in the first place. For me, it goes beyond just marketing,” she stated.

“We have noticed that the top-200 brands have cut across various categories covering telecom, health, food and drinks, paints, cables, banks, automobile, mines, retail, insurance among others. This clearly shows that consumers are very aware and engaged with these sectors on a daily basis.

“It also means that monies are rotating in the crucial and right places, and as a marketer this shows that we are in a good place as Ghana is moving forward in a balanced manner.”

Ms. Alimohamed ucongratulated leading brands in the country that beat all categories: Top-of-Mind Awareness, Last usage, and also deemed by the consumers as Superbrands.

“We intend to showcase and award those brands that have a history, and stood up to their ethos and propositions to become not only trusted but loved and admired brands.” By doing this, the Superbrands believes it is raising the bar to attract investors into Ghana.

The team will also meet the individual brand owners and thereafter present them with awards which will allow them to use the ‘Superbrands Seal’ for the period of 2018/2019.

Superbrands is an organisation that publishes surveys related to brands, and publishes a series of brand-focused books and publications.