Electronics vendors like 'grapevine' as sales tool

Evaluations from nonconsumers can be used to infer the brands' future earnings potential. BCG found out that companies getting higher scores tend to enjoy higher potential revenue growth.

Although Chinese companies are gaining larger market share, they'll face problems taking on global players because companies such as Samsung enjoy far better brand awareness than Chinese players, said Li.

Francois Candelon, senior partner with BCG Greater China, said young companies in China should know the market thoroughly and ensure their advertising is efficient.

"The power of mass media is decreasing, and buyers tend to listen to friends and relatives for advice. Traditional Chinese manufacturers should give more attention to new marketing skills, including making better use of social media," said Candelon.

About half of the respondents said they seek opinions from friends or relatives about an unfamiliar brand.

"It's not enough for local makers to have good engineers; it is also important to advocate their brands in the most efficient way," he added.

Xiaomi Corp, a Beijing-based smartphone maker, may be setting a good marketing example for other local brands, researchers said. Marketing moves involving multiple social networking platforms meant that Xiaomi received the same score as Apple on the smartphone front.

Even the company's long-time foe, Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd's founder Zhou Hongyi, praised Xiaomi's marketing strategy this week. Zhou asked his own marketing team to learn Xiaomi's "successful" marketing mindset.

"Xiaomi needs to be more sophisticated to address customers from different segments, and they did it well," said Candelon.

Top 10 Chinese smartphone makers	Top 10 most valuable Chinese brands