Shape the future, in other words: build a brand!

Dr. János Serényi
chairman
MagyarBrands Expert
Commitee

In Hungary the MagyarBrands Programme helps with this. For 16 years now, this brand certification system has been evaluating and highlighting high-performing Hungarian brands.

“These days buyers no longer remember prices, but experiences and feelings. A strong brand represents not only a product or service, but also a story, authenticity and value, which creates a strong connection with the audience”,

says Dr. János Serényi, chairman of the MagyarBrands Expert Committee.

The power of Hungarian origin

The latest nationally representative survey by MagyarBrands (summer 2025, Impetus Research) confirms that more than 80% of domestic consumers aren’t indifferent to whether they choose Hungarian or foreign products, with 38% considering it particularly important. One-third of those surveyed specifically search for Hungarian branded products, while only 13% prefer foreign brands.

When the choice is difficult, the role of distinctive trademarks also becomes more important. According to the research, almost half of consumers recognise the MagyarBrands logo – and the majority of them are more likely to choose products bearing this label.

The 2025 awardees in the Excellent Employer Brand category 

Excellent Hungarian brands

In 2025 MagyarBrands once again evaluated Hungarian brands and the programme awarded prizes in three basic categories: a complex, multi-stage selection process in each category was supplemented by the opinions of professional committees. As a result, 350 consumer brands, 350 business brands and 150 innovative brands were successfully included in the MagyarBrands Programme selection system and earned the titles of Excellent Consumer Brand, Excellent Business Brand and Innovative Brand. Plus the MagyarBrands Excellent Employer Brand award honours brands that prove in their applications and employee feedback that employer branding isn’t just a communication campaign for them, but a lived experience, explains Zita Kulcsár, head of the excellent employer brand category at MagyarBrands.

The 2024 MagyarBrands award winners at the gala ceremony

Showing the way

Tamás Barna
managing director
Republic Group

The MagyarBrands recognition gives professional feedback that strengthens confidence in the brand on an overloaded market. It works really well when we don’t communicate it on its own, but integrate it into the brand’s history and identity.

Today’s trendsetters don’t choose between technology, sustainability or social responsibility. These factors together determine how they operate. It is the responsibility of major brands not only to respond to change, but also to show the way forward – to consumers, the international market and future generations.

Our everyday loyalty

Krisztina Bódi
head of the 
MMSZ HoReCa and Event Chapter

The MagyarBrands award helps brands communicate it more easily that that the brand was born in Hungary. Emphasising domestic origin inspires confidence in consumers. If the brand is close, familiar and part of everyday life, it creates loyalty because it is a little bit ours too. This isn’t just a marketing ploy, but builds a real connection between the brand and the consumer, without telling a separate story.

Consumers are faced with a range of choices and the MagyarBrands award can help them as a point of reference.

At the door of new paradigms

András Kőszegi
brand consultant

A future-shaping brand isn’t modern because it is loud or technological, but because it enables a new norm. It thinks systematically and creates value. A brand will survive if collective health and sustainable operation become part of society.

We are at the door of new paradigms. What lies inside isn’t just advertising, it isn’t simply branding: it is cooperation in a world where brands become social contracts. This will be the true value, role and potential of modern marketing.

A delicate balance

Zsófia Lakatos
managing director
Emerald Public Relations

Fortunately, corporate responsibility is no longer a new topic or a curiosity; companies understand that they too must contribute to sustainability. It is understandable that they want to involve their brand in this responsibility, because strong brand equity is now inconceivable without sustainability considerations.

The sensitive issue here is the question of balance: it isn’t good if sustainability communication pushes the brand into the background, nor is it good if strong brand communication discredits sustainability efforts.

Future-shaping brands

Dr. János Serényi
owner-managing
director
Értéktrend Consulting

Most brands today talk about the future, while their decisions are still very often guided by yesterday’s logic. Today a future-shaping brand can no longer be solely about technological innovation, satisfying new types of needs or even merely about sustainability commitments. These together form a system.

Future-shaping brands differ from others in that they recognise that their business decisions have a direct or indirect social impact – even if that is not their intention.

Those who grab a lot…

Dr. Gedeon Totth
consultant, lecturer
Budapesti Business
School

Today it is trendy to communicate Hungarian origin, but for this to be a long-term orientation, trust must be built. For a brand to be “likable”, an online presence is essential today. At the same time, jumping on the bandwagon just because it seems like the cool thing to do is dangerous and can backfire.

Knowing our customers and their expectations will determine what we focus on when building our brand. As the Hungarian saying goes: those who grab a lot can hold on to little!