iPhone remains the ‘most recommended’ brand in Egypt

The smartphone giant continues to reign supreme among consumers in the country

iPhone remains the most recommended brand among current and former customers for the second year in a row, proving to be the most worthy of customer advocacy in the country. Netflix makes a grand entry into the rankings at number two and Google has moved up to the third spot this year from number four last year.

While WhatsApp has moved up one spot, from five to number four this year, YouTube has moved down one position, from eighth to ninth this year. Facebook, part of the top three last year, has lost its spot in the rankings this year.

Galaxy (the chocolates brand) remains at the same spot (number six), although Almarai moves down one spot, to eighth this year. Uber, Airbnb and El Doha make fresh entries into the list, at number five, seven and ten, respectively.

The Advocacy Rankings, produced by YouGov’s daily brand tracking tool BrandIndex, considered how much current and former customers endorsed brands over the past year by asking respondents, "Would you recommend the brand to a friend or colleague?" or “Would you tell a friend or colleague to avoid the brand?”

YouGov also revealed the brands that have the most improved level of customer advocacy over the last year. Heinz has seen the biggest uplift in its Recommend score among current and former customers, from 22.9 points last year to 33.9 this year. Following it are HOHOs and Samsung Galaxy, who have also registered significant improvement in their customer advocacy. Food & beverage brands seem to resonate particularly well with consumers in Egypt with Ole, Chipsy, Corona, Vimto, Beyti-Tropicana and Tropicana Frutz all featuring in the top improvers for the year.

Commenting on the rankings, Scott Booth, Head of YouGov BrandIndex - MENA, said, "Brand advocacy is a powerful marketing tool and is an indicator of a brand’s performance in terms of customer experience. A recommendation from friends or family proves to be an invaluable testimony for a brand. The dominance of digital brands highlights the growing popularity of these brands with the tech-savvy consumers in Egypt. Meanwhile, we see a number of food and beverage brands gaining strength year-on-year.”

YouGov BrandIndex screened all of its 288 brands in Egypt for their net Recommend score, which asks respondents "Would you recommend the brand to a friend or colleague?" and “Would you tell a friend or colleague to avoid the brand?” Only respondents who are current or former customers of a given brand are considered. Rankings data was collected between November 1, 2017 and October 31, 2018 and Improvers data was collected between November 1, 2016 and October 31, 2018. All brands must have a minimum N of 200 and have been tracked for at least 6 months to be included in the rankings and at least 6 months in the prior year's period (as well as being currently tracked) to be included among improvers.