TURKEY: National BrandIndex Score

Date Posted: 15 February 2008

National Brand Index (TRME) is attained by the average of index scores of all the brands (about 400) reporting in Turkey.

Research findings underline that brand perceptions of consumers are easily affected by political and social developments. BrandIndex gives us the opportunity of making sense of the effect of socio-economic circumstances in Turkey on the TRME. BrandIndex is a new research tool, which reports the public opinion of over 400 brands every week.

TRME, the average of all the brand performances in BrandIndex (reported since January 2007), demonstrates the effects of the seasonal, social and economic developments to the perceptions and provides a periodic analysis which is specific for Turkey.

TRME started at around 25% in January 2007, and had a short rise in February - the month Valentine’s Day was celebrated. In March, there were no negative developments for the TRME, allowing the score to rise back up to 25%. In April Turkey faced many political tensions, such as debates over the state presidential elections. Moreover, the avoidance of the election by the Consitutional Court and other developments caused uncertainty in society.resultantly, TRME’s score dropped to between 15 to 20% in April. TRME rose to 25% again between May and June, when we celebrated Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and also welcomed summer.

Towards the end of June, uncertainty again ascended in the build up to the general elections, which were held on the 22nd of July. Following the Justice and Welfare Party’s (AKP) unrivalled victory, the general atmosphere in Turkey had a positive effect on the TRME and led to a short term elevation in the scores. However, these expectations did not help the index to continue its rise. The negative trend commenced at the beginning of September. The drop however, was expected. During Ramadan, it is common for consumers to practise their religious rites and rituals thus withdrawing themselves from the marketing effects of brands.

The last quarter of the year included two holidays. Whilst the index score is currently fluctuating within its normal threshold, there is likely to be a negative impact in the coming days. The current national agenda, which is also being agitated by an international economic crisis, may well lead to political turmoil.

Sedef Besen, Brandindex Turkey Coordinator

sedef.besen@estima.com.tr

Click here to return to the main News index.