Aldi and Bunnings named among the best brands in Australia

German supermarket chain Aldi and hardware giant Bunnings are among the top brands operating in Australia, according to the YouGov BrandIndex Best Brands rankings for 2016.

Aldi and Bunnings took out the top two places in the retail category of the rankings, as well as third and fourth place, respectively, in the overall best brands list, reports B&T.

Coles, Kmart and JB Hi-Fi rounded out the top five retailers on the list, with Coles and Kmart also landing in the top 10 brands overall.

Each year BrandIndex tracks consumer sentiment towards leading brands across the globe, however, sentiment in the Australian market has only been tracked since the second half of 2015.

More than 260 brands that operate in Australia are included in the research, which asks consumers to give brands a “Buzz” score based on the following question: “If you’ve heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word-of-mouth, was it positive or negative?”

Consumers can give “Buzz” scores between 100 to -100 and a brand’s overall score is calculated by subtracting the negative feedback from the position.

The 2016 rankings are based on brands with the highest average “Buzz” scores between January and December last year.

Search giant Google came out on top of the Australian list this year, with a score of 26.1, while its video platform YouTube scored 25.4.

Aldi was next in line with a score of 24.5, followed by Bunnings (22.0), Toyota (21.3), Paypal (21.2), Netflix (20.9), Coles (20.5), Facebook (20.5) and Kmart (19.7).

Here are the top five brands in each category and their scores.

Retail

1. Aldi (24.5)
2. Bunnings (22.0)
3. Coles (20.5)
4. Kmart (19.7)
5. JB Hi-Fi (17.8)

Quick service retail/casual dining

1. Subway (19.2)
2. Hungry Jack’s (9.7)
3. Boost Juice (9.3)
4. Bakers Delight (9.2)
5. Domino’s Pizza (8.3)

Automotive

1. Toyota (21.3)
2. Mazda (13.5)
3. Mercedes-Benz (10.3)
4. BMW (10.2)
5. Holden (9.6)

Consumer electronics

1. Apple (19.6)
2. Dyson (14.7)
3. Samsung (14.0)
4. Sony (12.5)
5. Microsoft (12.1)

Financial services: banking and payments

1. Paypal (21.2)
2. Visa (9.3)
3. Mastercard (7.2)
4. ING Direct (6.7)
5. ANZ (4.4)

Financial services: insurance

1. AAMI (5.5)
2. NRMA (5.2)
3. Youi (4.8)
4. Allianz (4.6)
5. Budget Direct (2.3)

Internet

1. Google (26.1)
2. YouTube (25.4)
3. Facebook (20.5)
4. Gumtree (16.3)
5. Skype (12.4)

Mobile devices

1. Apple (11.9)
2. Apple iPhone (11.3)
3. Apple iPad (8.3)
4. Samsung (8.1)
5. Samsung tablet (4.5)

Telecommunications and pay TV

1. Netflix (20.9)
2. Foxtel (8.9)
3. iTunes (7.7)
4. Optus (7.5)
5. Stan (5.5)

Airlines

1. Qantas (19.7)
2. Emirates (12.4)
3. Virgin Australia (12.0)
4. Singapore Airlines (9.0)
5. Air New Zealand (8.3)

Travel booking

1. Trivago (12.7)
2. TripAdvisor (12.3)
3. Flight Centre (10.6)
4. Booking.com (10.4)
5. Airbnb (5.9)

Hotels

1. Novotel (3.4)
2. Hilton (3.4)
3. Hyatt (2.8)
4. Mercure (2.5)
5. Marriot (2.5)

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