Back in the early 2000s, sponsored by the government, KPC developed the index in an attempt to help the competitiveness of Korean goods in overseas markets.

In general, the brand power of a product or service is one of the most important factors to affect the purchasing decision of consumers. Korean industries and companies have used the NBCI as an indicator to decide whether to bolster their brand marketing activities or not.

For the 2015 index ranking, KPC conducted the survey on 120,540 consumers nationwide to measure the competitiveness of 223 Korean brands in 62 industries.

The NBCI is the combined result of measuring brand awareness, image and customer relationships, based on a company’s marketing activities.

Different from previous surveys, the 2015 index excluded the hospital industry due to the impact of the recent outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome on hospital brands, KPC officials said.

By industry, the television industry in the manufacturing sector, where Samsung and LG are dominant, topped the NBCI ranking, gaining the highest score of 78 points, followed by the tablet sector with 77 points.

In the service sector, the bakery chain industry was at the top with 76 points. Duty-free business and open market services both placed second by gaining 75 points each.

Meanwhile, the brokerage industry was the worst performer in the 2015 NBCI ranking, posting 69 points.

“About 71 percent of 62 industries surveyed, or 44 industries, saw improvement in brand competitiveness this year by strengthening brand marketing activities,’’ KPC said.

The television industry also was at the top in terms of the improvement of brand competitiveness this year from a year ago, posting 78 points, followed by the cosmetics industry and fermented beverage business, whose index scores stood at 73 points each.

Korean sport utility vehicles and tire brands were also included in the top five industries that improved their brand power this year from a year ago.

In contrast, four industries -- duty-free, international calls, convenience stores and life insurance -- saw a drop in their brand competitiveness this year.

The remaining 14 industries maintained the same NBCI ranking as last year.

Regarding the index ranking by brand, rice cooker brand Cuckoo, drinking water brand Jeju Samdasoo and Jeju Samdasu and Woongjin Coway, water purifier brands, also were on top, equally gaining 79 points, KPC said.

Samsung TV, instant noodle brand Shin Ramyun, Korean Air, bakery chain brand Paris Baguette, Equus of Hyundai Motor and LG’s air conditioner brand Whisen also placed in the 2015 top 10 index ranking by product.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)