Banks and mobile operators feature predominantly among the top rated brands in South Africa.

Brand South Africa and Brand Finance Africa published a third annual study of the Top 50 corporate brands in the country, which are valued at approximately R1.5 trillion.

MTN retained its leading position as the most valuable brand in the country, followed by Vodacom and Sasol.

Woolworths and FNB were also among the top performers for the 2014/15 year.

“Significantly, an analysis of the top 10 corporate brands is that nine of these operate in knowledge intensive sectors – in the telecommunications, banking and oil and gas sectors,” the report said.

Brand Finance calculates brand value using the Royalty Relief approach. This approach involves estimating the likely future sales that are attributable to a brand and calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for the use of the brand.

Top 20 most valuable brands in South Africa

In July, The Ask Africa ICON brands survey listed Koo Baked Beans as the most-loved (popular) brand in the country, with Nokia (8th) and MTN (20th) two of the most popular tech products in South Africa.

Huletts Sugar came second, All Gold Tomato sauce third, Coca Cola fourth, and McCain Frozen Chips and Potato Products fifth.