Internet Sector Brand Value
Korea’s top messaging app KakoTalk reportedly topped the local ranking on Internet companies’ brand value, exceeding the country’s top portal operator Naver.
Brand Stock, which specializes in brand value evaluations, announced on Feb. 23 that KakoTalk ranked first in the Feb. Brand Stock Top Index (BSTI) for the Internet industry by scoring 912.74 points.
Naver occupied the runner-up position with 906.37 points. The Korean web giant had maintained the top spot for 10 years after unseating the top-ranked Daum in 2004. Nevertheless, its brand value started to decline last year, owing to growing controversy over its monopoly of the local Internet market. As a result, Naver was displaced by KakoTalk in February.
KakoTalk, which began as a mobile messenger application in 2010, has become a mobile social platform with 135 million subscribers worldwide, thanks to the popularization of smartphones.
Facebook was in third place with 891 points, followed by Twitter (886.78 points), Daum (807.21), Line (802.95), and Band (802.9).
An official at Brand Stock remarked, “Five mobile-related brands entered the top 10 by increasing their share.” The official continued by saying, “Competition between portal and mobile brands for rankings is going to be more intense, in that the importance of mobile platforms is growing much more.”
The BSTI is a model that evaluates brand value by combining the stock index (70 percent) and the consumer survey index (30 percent) of main brands in the nation created through mock trading at the Brand Stock Exchange. Its maximum points are 1,000.