Huawei seen as the most authentic brand in China: report

Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment supplier, is the most authentic brand in China, according to a report by New York-based communications agency Cohn&Wolfe.

The privately held maker of networking systems and smartphones climbed from fourth last year to unseat the Bank of China at the top of the mainland rankings in Cohn&Wolfe’s fifth Authentic Brands Study, an annual consumer survey in 15 markets around the world on the role of authenticity in business.

That ranking marks a big leap for Shenzhen-based Huawei in terms of raising the domestic and global awareness for its brand.

It recently placed 49th in this year’s BrandZ study of the most valuable global brands, an annual survey conducted by British multinational advertising company WPP and market research firm Kantar Millward Brown.

Matt Stafford, the Asia-Pacific president at Cohn&Wolfe, said on Monday that the company’s own study showed “consumers value authenticity and will reward brands that work on being reliable, respectful and real – the three main drivers of brand authenticity”.