YouGov: Huawei ads in SG seen, but no impact on declining purchase consideration

New analysis from YouGov plan & track shows that the latest US restrictions have affected Huawei’s brand health in Singapore. Up until recently, Huawei enjoyed good brand health, due to the launch of the highly anticipated P30 model with its ‘SuperZoom’ lens which was advertised as “accentuating a new peak of smartphone photography”.Although the P30 launched in Paris two weeks before arriving the Singapore market, talk surrounding the brand began before it even hit the market. On the day of the Paris launch Huawei’s Buzz score was at 18.8, but at the date of the Singapore launch on 6 April 2019 it stood at 23.9, a rise of +5.1 points. The excitement for the new phone had Singaporeans lining up the night before the unveiling. The buzz surrounding the P30 didn’t die out after the launch. A month later, its Buzz score peaked at 36.6.The P30 launch not only got Singaporeans talking about the brand, it also made them more likely to recommend the brand. Huawei’s Recommend score rose from 19.7 the day of the launch and peaked at 29.0, a rise of +9.3 points. Most notably, Singaporean consumers were noticing ads for the P30. Its Ad Awareness score rose from 33.6 the day of the launch and peaked at 47.8, a jump of +14.3 points.Trouble for Huawei began however, on 16 May 2019, when Huawei was restricted from doing commerce with US companies. The result of these restrictions is tech companies such as Google, Intel and Qualcomm removing Huawei from their hardware, software and services.Since the day of US restrictions, Huawei’s BrandIndex scores have been sent in decline.Its Buzz score which stood at 35.1, has since dropped -30.7 points, and now stands at 4.4 – the lowest ever level YouGov has measured for the brand. Singaporean consumers are also now less likely to recommend the brand now, with its Recommend score falling -10 points from 27.1 to 17.1.Not all metrics, were badly affected by the announcement of US restrictions. Huawei’s Ad Awareness score fell slightly, but remains at a high of 41.5 – meaning people are continuing to notice Huawei ads. However, these ads have had no impact on declining Consideration scores – which measures whether people are considering purchasing a brand. Consideration scores fell from 32.4 to 24.7, a drop of -7.7 points.Ervin Ha, Head of Data Products for YouGov APAC commented: “Huawei has experienced both brand health highs and lows as of late. It’s rise in scores following the launch of P30 is something to be commended, although this was short-lived. U.S. restrictions have hit Huawei’s brand health scores hard, and we’ll be watching to see the brand’s next move.”