The jury have decided

The Superbrands programme has been up and running in Hungary for 13 years. Becoming a Superbrand expresses the recognition of the market. The jury have selected the best brands from hundreds of thousands that are present in the market. Our magazine asked jury members how they reached a decision in 2017.

A compass for consumers

_{Dr Tamás Barna
managing director
Republic Group}

More and more brands enter the market which represent really high quality. The Superbrands recognition serves as a compass for consumers, reassuring them that they are making the right choice as a group of experts is saying that the given product is the best of its kind. Today, when good price is a more influential product choice factor than good quality, the Superbrand marking can still stabilise the position of a brand. Yes, it is true that recognitions like this are usually the most important for the manufacturer, but they can also guarantee to consumers that they won’t be disappointed if they purchase the product. 

A well-built system

_{Dr András Bauer
associate professor
Corvinus University of Budapest}

Most of the time it isn’t the major global brands that make the biggest efforts to profit from becoming a Superbrand. This recognition is awarded locally, so using it fits into local market strategies the best. My view is that the more companies use the Superbrands trademark for a longer period of time, the greater its value becomes. This is the reason why lesser-known brands can compete with big names in a given country. I think that the evaluation criteria are good, similar brand evaluation programmes are using basically the same system in other countries. 

Strategies and communication techniques

_{György Becker
managing director
Becker Bear Consulting}

The Superbrands voting evaluates three aspects of a brand: each jury member assesses how well-known a brand is in a relatively subjective fashion; we also ‘listen to our hearts’ when we judge the reputation of brand; the third thing we examine is brand building. Some brands get the maximum score in the first two categories but practically do no brand building work at all. This puts the jury in a difficult position, as a real Superbrand isn’t only super because it offers constant good quality, but also due to the strategies and communication techniques that shape its image in consumers’ heads. The fact that there are many competition entries every year makes me think that becoming a Superbrand is an honour for both brand owners and consumers. I also think that the recognition’s value increased after the years of economic recession. However, my feeling is that in communication most winners make do with reporting the news in a PR article or featuring it in their sustainability report. 

A conversation with consumers

_{Zoltán Fekete
general secretary
Branded Goods Association Hungary}

I have been a jury member for many years and I am happy to report that the Superbrands programme shows no signs of getting tired at all. The jury’s task is to look for and show examples of excellence. At the same time we must do this selection process with a growing number of brands. What I focus on is how strong the chemistry is between a given brand and its buyers. Brands are in constant conversation with consumers and the latter want directness, accessibility, experiences, likeability, transparency and ethical behaviour from brand owners, and to be treated as partners. I am convinced that winning and keeping the Superbrands title is great support for a brand. 

The best among the good ones

_{Zsuzsanna Hermann
managing director, chief editor
Trade magazine}

The Superbrands award expresses the value of a given brand and this is important in both good and bad economic periods. My experience is that there is always a conscious and long-term brand building strategy behind the winners. The No.1 task of the Superbrands recognition isn’t to give direct support to a brand, but to reassure its owner and buyers that it is in good hands and the market has trust in it. Shoppers trust Superbrands winner products more and more. 

Rating the whole of Hungary’s economy

_{Melinda Kamasz
deputy chief editor
Figyelő}

Our lives keep changing but we are lucky enough to have stable points in them as well. In the last 12 years one of these has been awarding the Superbrands recognition. Jury members spend a lot of time with evaluating the products and services, and I am glad to see how many of them represent very high quality. I reckon that the most important thing is that the Superbrands trademark honours a brand’s excellent performance, behind which there is always many years of hard work – innovating, learning and adapting to market changes. All of us profit from the growing number of Superbrands winners, because not only the brands but also the Hungarian economy in general is evaluated this way. 

With a growing prestige

_{Dr Péter Keresztesi
CEO
Modern Media Group}

The value of the Superbrands brand has definitely become bigger. Preparation for the evaluation process is much more professional now than in former years. The number of indicators used in evaluating brands keeps growing, and this guarantees that only the best candidates make it to the final list, where points are given. Today most winners are proudly using the opportunities created by the programme, and I think consumers can also rely on a brand’s Superbrands communication when making a buying decision. My feeling is that the presence of the Superbrands logo on a product alone means guaranteed quality to buyers. 

Adding value to brand building

_{Zsófia Lakatos
president
MPRSZ}

My view is that the Superbrands programme made great progress in the last few years. The selection process has become more data-driven. Brands use the recognition more and more consciously in their communication. My feeling is that a growing number of shoppers know and appreciate the Superbrands programme, and once a brand gets the trademark, it wants to earn it again and again. I think that the Brandbook programme and the website are good initiatives. 

More and more objective rewarding

_{Kázmér Nyomárkay
chief editor
K&K magazine}

What changed in the Superbrands programme in the last 13 years? Its structure has basically stayed the same but the whole thing has become much bigger. The Superbrands trademark is much better known than at the start, and not only in the world of marketing and communication, but also among consumers. I am happy to see that there are many innovative companies among the winners, it is enough to mention Biotech USA, Jófogás and Lipóti Bakery. These companies have become key players in their sectors since the launch of the Superbrands programme in Hungary. 

Greater value for the human aspect

_{Dr János Serényi
owner-managing director
Értéktrend Consulting}

I have checked what new ideas former Superbrands winners came up with in 2017. Many of them started building strong personal brands within the company structure – and not only in the case of the CEOs or managing directors. In line with this, demand has been growing for training programmes that prepare for personal branding activities. Several Superbrands winners – in addition to their products and services – publish more information than ever before in the form of video footages, about workers, new things that affect partners and the good causes that they support. It is noteworthy that in an age when technology reigns, the human side of business relations is becoming more valuable. A few years ago it would have been unimaginable to have a relationship of this quality and atmosphere between a company and its partner. 

Differentiating and positioning

_{Dr Gedeon Totth
college professor and head of department
Budapest Business School}

I believe that the composition of the jury reflects some kind of professional relevance and I know that jury members are devoted to the Superbrands cause. How the jury vote has its weight and plays a key role in the evaluation process. BGE’s Institute of Commerce and Marketing conducted a survey this year that showed: consumers know very well which products are Superbrands. I think that there are too many trademarks in Hungary and this makes it difficult for consumers to decide which product to put in their baskets. Luckily, the values of a trademark and its good marketing work can help to improve its situation – and the Superbrands programme is leading the way in this. 

What does it mean to become a ‘club member’?

_{Mihály Vágvölgyi
managing partner
DeepInsight}

The Superbrands programme has gone through a major renewal recently: in a two-tier system there is a pre-selection process and an independent survey (conducted by GfK Hungária) before the jury starts evaluating the entries. There is a bigger brand database year after year, in both the business and the consumer brand categories.Bisnode monitors and filters out the risk factors in business brands. What I see is that companies like to belong to the Superbrands ‘club’ and do their best to stay ‘members’. In a 500-person online brand survey done by GfK, 75 percent of respondents were familiar with the Superbrands trademark. 80 percent of the survey’s participants had a positive opinion about Superbrands, mentioning trust and quality the most often. 

Identity, reputation, brand building

_{Dr András Vértes
president
GKI}

The list of Superbrands winners keeps changing from year to year. In part because the programme’s criteria are changing, as the market competition was different 10 years ago than it is now. For instance in the case of business brands the three most important criteria now are: identity, reputation and brand building performance. The value of brands increased further in the last 2-3 years, mainly because business requirements are now greater. I agree with the Superbrands principle that not one exceptionally successful communication campaign is rewarded, but products and services that can earn the appreciation of consumers in the long run. //