March Ahead of the Competition through Word of Mouth

Word-of-mouth recommendations from customers, or brand advocacy, are a signal of how successful a brand is. Companies or products with strong levels of brand advocacy enjoy a greater presence in customers’ minds and are more competitive. Quantifying brand advocacy is the best way to demonstrate its top-line impact, and develop strategies to improve word-of-mouth. To address this need, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has created the Brand Advocacy Index (BAI), a strategic metric that measures advocacy with far greater precision than existing approaches. BCG conducted a BAI survey of China’s technology, media & telecommunications (TMT) sectors in the third quarter of 2013, covering the country’s major TMT companies and their brands, in handsets, tablets, smart TVs, PCs, and telecommunications. More than 8,500 respondents participated in the survey. In this report, BCG unveils the findings of the survey and proposes feasible steps for companies to use BAI to unleash the power of advocacy and drive top-line growth.