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Alipay, WeChat and Android are top brands Chinese consumers cannot live without

Survey by marketing consultancy Prophet of more than 13,500 consumers in 39 mainland cities reveals the increasing relevance of technology-related brands in everyday lives

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An Alipay advertisement in a Beijing market. The payments platform had 450 million users by 2016. Photo: AFP
Maggie Zhang

Alipay, WeChat and Android are the top three brands that Chinese consumers cannot live without, in a reflection of how technology has filtered through their daily lives, according to a consumer survey.

All three Chinese companies on the top 10 brands list are technology related, with the music app NetEase Cloud Music coming in at No. 10, the global branding and marketing consultancy Prophet said on Thursday as it unveiled its 2017 brand relevance index for China.

“Chinese consumers today live, work and play in a connected, digital world, so the brands that deliver useful, easily accessible and enjoyable experiences are going to be the most relevant to their lives,” said Tom Doctoroff, a senior partner at Prophet.

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The rest of the list is dominated by brands that include Ikea, Apple, Nike, Estee Lauder, BMW and Marriot hotels.

The consultancy surveyed more than 13,500 Chinese consumers in 39 cities on the mainland about which among 235 household brands in 30 industries were most relevant to them this summer.

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Five of the top 10 and almost half of the top 50 brands are technology-led, while the rest have all invested substantially in digital to better communicate with consumers.

Digital, social media and e-commerce brands continue to dominate the index when compared with last year, while music, gaming, entertainment and sporting goods are on the rise.

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