[Sponsored Report] Some brands increase competitiveness as others fall short

The National Brand Competitiveness Index (NBCI) rose this year compared to 2010 in 29 industries (60.4 percent) among a total of 48 industries surveyed.

Among the industries that saw a rise were online book stores, convenience stores, home school material providers, cigarette companies as well as digital TV, rice cooker and two-door refrigerator manufacturers, internet shopping malls and mobile telecommunication service providers.

Online book stores have distinct advantages over offline book stores, chief among them is the convenience of being able to shop leisurely from home. Low prices compared to offline stores have also led to rapid growth. The other industries have shown similar growth and improved NBCI scores.

There are nine industries (18.8 percent) among the 48 surveyed that showed a fall in NBCI score compared to 2010.

Gas boiler producers, mobile phone and high speed internet providers, mid-size automobile producers, life insurance providers, TV home shopping channels and the beer industry are among those that have seen their NBCI score decrease since last year.

In the case of the mobile phone industry, nonsmart phones had a tough time competing with a smart phone market that showed a rapid increase in NBCI score, due in part to the way new phones were released and marketed.

With the smart phone market rising, wireless data traffic has been increasing and new products mean that the high speed internet business has seen a slump in its NBCI score.

Combination products and the proliferation of Wi-Fi was seen as a good sign for the industry but with the distribution rate and fierce competition among the distributors the NBCI score showed a decrease.