ANIL ISHANI, Advocate and Fellow – Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

In a developing world, where the concept of consumers lobby and voice is not active and vocal ,it is of utmost importance that organisations like SUPERBRAND exist. They play a vital role in creating consumers awareness. Superbrand also acts as a watchdog against abuse or neglect by the Companies to ensure that their products are of good quality with ethical standards of production and trade practicises.

Purchasing a superbrand product makes me comfortable that it is a well known quality product. Future generations will support Superbrand products because they have grown up recognising such products. Peer pressure also encourages them to go for accepted products. To achieve Superbrand label products must have credibility, quality, be recognisable and must be visionary. Availability is an important criteria that makes it a SUPERBRAND.

CYRILLE NABUTOLA, Managing Director – Span Images

Almost everything these days is available in a branded version. A brand must be distinctive and impactful, inspire trust and confidence. So if this is what a brand is all about then what should the super brand be? The super brand should be the mother of all brands, the ultimate goal for any brand. Very few brands attain this standing and there are undeniably few we can talk about today.

The grandest objective for a super brand is that it should guarantee you a connection to the promise of the brand, it should motivate you, and create such a deep burning desire in you, an unexplained warmth and a crazy craving. The appeal and total experience it offers is what it takes to make for the super brand and to maintain this “STARDOM” effect ..The Mercedes is a super brand as it has a solid reputation and personality and a great sense of appeal and reliability to its users. This   means that we must nurture a brand to ensure that it remains consistent, appealing and fulfilling.

GEORGE LUTTA, Regional Director, Media Investment Management – Scangroup

Superbrands are leaders in every right. They lead in innovation, differentiation and consumer connection.

Leadership is about getting people to do things through inspiration respect and trust. Superbrands are market leaders because they exploit these qualities better than anyone else.

Superbrands also cleverly recognize the vital role played by empowered consumers in todays marketplace and hence apply ‘adaptive leadership’ strategies to connect better Adaptive leadership means consumers now play a more significant role in shaping a Superbrand .In essence consumers are the ‘rightful‘owners of a Superbrand.

GINA DIN, Managing Director – Gina Din Corporate Communications

A Super Brand is what sets a company’s product and Services above the rest. It is not necessarily the quality of the products being sold or the service rendered, but how well your target market knows what your brand stands for.

It is not enough if your client knows that you do everything, in fact, typically, not being specific about a product or service offered kills the brand value. A Super Brand is specific and will stand out from the rest, among many other service providers or products.

Super brand sets the pace and leaves a greater margin in between as others follow. A company with the Super Brand status has to have met the immediate needs of its clientele. Clients should not take the whole day describing what you do; given a chance to describe the business in a sentence, your target market should not lack in words.

GEORGE WAITITU, Group Managing Director – The Steadman Group 

A super brand is the one that delivers RELEVANCE with RUTHLESS CONSISTENCY!

Architect LEE G. KARURI, Director – Dimensions Architect

A product or a service shall attain superbrand status if the consumer develops a trusting relationship and deep satisfaction with the Brand. The superbrand can only be sustainable if customer needs are met beyond their own expectations. This evokes a great emotional connection with the users who are proud and confident to identify with the product effortlessly all the time.

And how does the superbrand maintain the status? Every effort to ensure and deliver continuous product relevance while attaining the highest standard and quality in a consistent manner for the target audience is a must. The superbrand must also be inbuilt with superior perception and unshakable value beyond the competitors in order to remain the product of choice even during times of challenge. This way the superbrand will enjoy the support of all generations while keeping a safe margin ahead of future competition.

MICHAEL OKWIRI, Director – Corporate Communications and Public relations, Celtel Kenya

A brand is something that you may recognize on a day to day basis. A SuperBrand is a product or service that integrates itself into your thoughts and that you would actively want to make a part of your life. It may or may not be relevant to your particular lifestyle, to be honest, but if it you do come into contact with it, you will choose it above the available alternatives.

There are several brands that I interact with on a day to day basis and there are some that I have learnt to trust. Some I can afford to pay the price and partake of the experience and others that I just read about in magazines or just look at in shop windows.

A SuperBrand could either be affordable or beyond my reach but it is one of those things that I have learnt to recognize and trust above the thousands of products that we run into everyday.

RICHARD MUKOMA, Chief Executive – Interbrand Sampson East Africa

Strong Brands are Resilient. Strong brands are full of potential and if well taken care of will repay you over and over again. One of the most admirable hallmarks of a strong brand is resilience. Considering that brands are constantly under attack, and not just from competitors, only the toughest stand the test of time.

Brands are increasingly being exploited by organized crime with brand counterfeits and product extortion. They can become the target of anyone with a grudge who can contaminate or adulterate the products to which the brand relates. They can be victims of errors, or of unauthorized acts by the brand owner’s employees and partners anywhere in the world. A global brand can be seriously harmed by the actions of the most remote of subsidiaries. Badly handled reputation crises have caused significant losses in brand value and share price, and even the demise of the companies concerned. Brand resilience helps companies ride out this stormy weather.

SAMEER MERALI, Director – Sameer Investments Limited

A brand represents a collection of attributes as perceived by consumers and that strongly influence purchase decisions. It is made up of an effective product, unmistakable identity and a reputation of added value to consumers.

A superbrand must consistently excel on these attributes. In the commercial world, I would describe a superbrand as a productive asset that resides in the minds of a company’s customers and other stakeholders.

It continuously delights the consumers by delivering beyond the promise, creates a growing list of unpaid advocates, generates long term positive cash flow from premium prices and assures the firm of long term profitability through repeat purchases and unsolicited support from all stakeholders. Superbrands ensure all round super satisfaction.

THIAGARAJAN RAMAMURTHY, Director of Operations – Nakumatt Holdings Limited

From experience, I guess this is the easiest answer a marketer would ever need to answer.

A superbrand is that product or service that meets and exceeds customer needs in a most innovative yet cost effective way. In all markets, particular categories or sectors are replete with multiple brands.

However, the best brand is the one that provides a value add to the consumer. In this day and age, consumers are resolute about the value of the product or service they want and are not willing to compromise on price. For this reason, a Superbrand abhors mediocrity and remains at the forefront of innovation. No less!

TOM SITATI, Executive Director – Interbrand Sampson East Africa

Life is all about relationships. Superior branding is about superior relationships with consumers.

More than even before in human history, brands have become the vocabulary we use to navigate around the myriad of options presented to us literally every second!

To make our lives easier, we generally pick on a few “beacons” by which we can navigate through the complex maze that life has become. We pick beacons that have developed better relationships with us and consistently remain true to their promise.

This simplifies our choices. Picking these few beacons is a challenge that is made easier by superior brands – the Superbrands.

SUNDER VENKATARAMAN, Managing Director – JWT Kenya

Brands, in their simplest definition, are products with personality. How people view brands or their personalities depends on what perception is created in their minds by that brand. Hence the importance of ‘brand building’ or ‘character building’ in people. Today, much emphasis is given to developing and communicating a single minded brand proposition to consumers.

The brand essence in a single drop! One that can then blossom and bring to life a distinct and unique personality for the brand. Most brands struggle to achieve this. Those that do are on their way to become Superbrands.

And with the added virtues of delivery, dominance, drive and endurance they become not just Superbrands, but the Superstars of our time.