South Africa’s Most Recommended Brands for 2025 revealed

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Drawing on feedback from current customers over the period of a year, the rankings reflect which brands South Africans are most likely to recommend to a friend or colleague - a powerful indicator of trust, and brand advocacy.

Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) leads the pack as the most recommended brand in the country, with a recommendation score of 90.1%, followed closely by Samsung (88.9%) and Woolworths Food (88.1%).

The Top 10 Most Recommended Brands in SA for 2025 are:

1. Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) – 90.1%
   
2. Samsung – 88.9%
   
3. Woolworths Food – 88.1%
   
4. Woolworths Clothing – 86.7%
   
5. Woolworths Home – 85.2%
   
6. FNB – 84.2%
   
7. Hirsch’s – 83.3%
   
8. Cape Union Mart – 83.2%
   
9. Checkers – 82.7%
   
10. Metropolitan – 82.5%
    

"This list reflects a brand experience that consumers are proud to share with others," says Rakhee Naik, managing consultant – Insights at KLA.

The study also identifies the Top 10 Most Improved Brands, recognising those that have made the biggest gains in their recommendation scores year-on-year. These improvements reflect strategic progress in building trust, elevating customer experience, and strengthening brand affinity. While the top improvers are not publicly ranked, clients have access to their individual performance data through KLA.

About the methodology:

The rankings are based on data collected between 1 June 2024 and 31 May 2025, using YouGov BrandIndex, a continuous brand/market tracking tool that measures public perception of thousands of brands globally - including over 200 brands in South Africa.

Each day, YouGov BrandIndex conducts over 560 nationally representative interviews with South African adults per brand, asking respondents about their attitudes and perceptions of brands they are aware of. The recommendation score is calculated based on the percentage of a brand’s current customers who say they would recommend the brand to others, versus those who would not.

Only brands with a robust sample of current customers over the 12-month period are included in the final ranking. The “Most Improved” list is based on the year-on-year change in positive recommendation scores among current customers - not brand awareness or ad recall, but actual user-based advocacy.

With KLA’s YourView consumer panel celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025, the launch of this new benchmark reinforces the agency’s commitment to elevating the voice of the consumer in strategic brand decision-making. For a copy of the full report, visit https://kla.co.za/yougov