The National Brand Competitiveness Index has shown a significant rise in overall brand competitiveness between 2014 and 2004, the year the survey was first carried out.

Between the highest score of 76 and the lowest score of 68, the duty-free industry ranked the highest in brand competitiveness while 10 other industries, including tobacco, SUV, smart phone and tire makers, ranked the lowest. There were 40 brands with scores of over 70 in 2004, but the number of brands has sharply increased to 130 in 2014 with duty-free, social commerce, open market and international airport industries newly added, showing overall improvement in brand competitiveness compared to last year.

The reason for this improvement is that the companies have increased the number of marketing activities that target customers over the previous year.

By Lee Hee-ju (hjlee0301@heraldcorp.com)