15 Brands Remain No. 1 Since 2005
This year, the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend study assessed more than 1,500 brands across more than 127 product categories and identified 15 brands that have flexed their staying power "muscle" year after year. These brands have ranked No. 1 in their respective categories every year since 2005 (when the current EquiTrend methodology began).
Within the list are "mega-brands" that in essence came to define their respective categories, like Coca-Cola, Craftsman, Gatorade, HBO and Life Savers. Each brand has significant staying power because it consistently delivers on its brand experience and remains relevant to today's consumers.
15 Brands Consistently Ranked No. 1 Since 2005
Health Insurance: Blue Cross Blue Shield
Soft Drink: Coca-Cola
Power Tool: Craftsman
Sports Drinks: Gatorade
Greeting Card: Hallmark Greeting Cards
Pay Cable TV Network: HBO
Mid-Market Hotel: Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts
Non-Chocolate Candy: Life Savers
General-Interest Magazine: National Geographic Magazine
Cookie: Oreos
Consumer Electronics: Sony Consumer Electronics
Value Airline: Southwest Airlines
Quick Serve Restaurant: Subway Restaurants
Mobile Network: Verizon Mobile Network
Payment Card: Visa
How do they do it? In examining the 127 top brands, these eight-time highest ranked brands stand out in one area more than any other — brand momentum. To have strong momentum, a brand must be seen as leader, be popular among friends and family, have high-levels of visibility, be exciting and engaging and be a brand that consumers believe has a bright future.
"These 15 top brands have consistently found a way to remain relevant and valuable to the consumer," said Aron Galonsky, senior vice president for Harris Interactive's Brand and Communication Consulting group. "It's not surprising why these perennial leaders continue stay on top. They continually deliver a consistent and balanced brand experience, year after year, that really resonates with the consumer."
While not yet eight-year category leaders, other prominent brands that are poised to lead and strengthen their categories are the Apple iPad and iPhone, Google, Android, Amazon's Kindle and the National Football League — all of which showed strong signs of brand momentum. In addition, newcomers like Chobani Greek Yogurt and the health non-profit organization, Stand Up To Cancer, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, showed significant promise for the future.
Top Gainers
Although brand equity is generally slow moving, strong brands, once established, will typically maintain their brand momentum. For example, this year, Apple's iPhone continued its rise and became one of the top technology brands in EquiTrend. Other brands with strong year-over-year performance that garnered them a 2012 "Brand of the Year" distinction include Yamaha Motorcycles, Glaceau vitaminwater, BB&T Bank and Physicians Formula Cosmetics.
At Risk Brands
A few brands have suffered steep declines over the last year such as the scandal-rocked Susan G. Komen for the Cure and a handful of financial services brands, including Credit Suisse Financial Services, Bank of New York Mellon, Amerigroup and Fannie Mae. Other brands that fell include Groupon, which is seeing competition from this year's top ranked brand, Woot.com and Living Social. Additionally, Carnival Cruise Lines —the sister company of Costa Concordia, the cruise line with recent mishaps — and the Goodyear Tire and Service Network — which was top ranked in 2011 — also dropped in the ranking. Several non-profits, like the National Kidney Foundation, Sierra Club and World Vision have also seen declines.
Meanwhile one-time technology mega-brand, BlackBerry, suffered a huge drop as many corporations implement and incorporate a "bring-your-own-device" strategy, essentially "spec-ing out" BlackBerry by employees who favor other smart phone brands. BlackBerry's below average scores for brand momentum, a forward looking brand metric, suggest that unless they find a way to reinvigorate, they can expect further deterioration.
Click here to view the results of the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend report.
Harris Poll EquiTrend Methodology
A sample of 38,529 U.S. consumers ages 15 and over were surveyed online by Harris Interactive from January 31 through February 20, 2011 and the survey took an average of 40 minutes to complete. The sample was from the Harris Interactive online panel of respondents, a multimillion-member database consisting of cooperative respondents who have double-opted in to be randomly invited by Harris Interactive to take part in online surveys. The total number of brands rated was 1,529. Each respondent was asked to rate a total of 40 randomly selected brands. Each brand received approximately 1,000 ratings. Data were weighted to be representative of the entire U.S. population of consumers ages 15 and over based on age by sex, education, race/ethnicity, region, income, and data from respondents ages 18 and over were also weighted for their propensity to be online. This is the same precision weighting approach Harris has used to become the leading online polling organization when calling elections.
Within the list are "mega-brands" that in essence came to define their respective categories, like Coca-Cola, Craftsman, Gatorade, HBO and Life Savers. Each brand has significant staying power because it consistently delivers on its brand experience and remains relevant to today's consumers.
15 Brands Consistently Ranked No. 1 Since 2005
Health Insurance: Blue Cross Blue Shield
Soft Drink: Coca-Cola
Power Tool: Craftsman
Sports Drinks: Gatorade
Greeting Card: Hallmark Greeting Cards
Pay Cable TV Network: HBO
Mid-Market Hotel: Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts
Non-Chocolate Candy: Life Savers
General-Interest Magazine: National Geographic Magazine
Cookie: Oreos
Consumer Electronics: Sony Consumer Electronics
Value Airline: Southwest Airlines
Quick Serve Restaurant: Subway Restaurants
Mobile Network: Verizon Mobile Network
Payment Card: Visa
How do they do it? In examining the 127 top brands, these eight-time highest ranked brands stand out in one area more than any other — brand momentum. To have strong momentum, a brand must be seen as leader, be popular among friends and family, have high-levels of visibility, be exciting and engaging and be a brand that consumers believe has a bright future.
"These 15 top brands have consistently found a way to remain relevant and valuable to the consumer," said Aron Galonsky, senior vice president for Harris Interactive's Brand and Communication Consulting group. "It's not surprising why these perennial leaders continue stay on top. They continually deliver a consistent and balanced brand experience, year after year, that really resonates with the consumer."
While not yet eight-year category leaders, other prominent brands that are poised to lead and strengthen their categories are the Apple iPad and iPhone, Google, Android, Amazon's Kindle and the National Football League — all of which showed strong signs of brand momentum. In addition, newcomers like Chobani Greek Yogurt and the health non-profit organization, Stand Up To Cancer, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, showed significant promise for the future.
Top Gainers
Although brand equity is generally slow moving, strong brands, once established, will typically maintain their brand momentum. For example, this year, Apple's iPhone continued its rise and became one of the top technology brands in EquiTrend. Other brands with strong year-over-year performance that garnered them a 2012 "Brand of the Year" distinction include Yamaha Motorcycles, Glaceau vitaminwater, BB&T Bank and Physicians Formula Cosmetics.
At Risk Brands
A few brands have suffered steep declines over the last year such as the scandal-rocked Susan G. Komen for the Cure and a handful of financial services brands, including Credit Suisse Financial Services, Bank of New York Mellon, Amerigroup and Fannie Mae. Other brands that fell include Groupon, which is seeing competition from this year's top ranked brand, Woot.com and Living Social. Additionally, Carnival Cruise Lines —the sister company of Costa Concordia, the cruise line with recent mishaps — and the Goodyear Tire and Service Network — which was top ranked in 2011 — also dropped in the ranking. Several non-profits, like the National Kidney Foundation, Sierra Club and World Vision have also seen declines.
Meanwhile one-time technology mega-brand, BlackBerry, suffered a huge drop as many corporations implement and incorporate a "bring-your-own-device" strategy, essentially "spec-ing out" BlackBerry by employees who favor other smart phone brands. BlackBerry's below average scores for brand momentum, a forward looking brand metric, suggest that unless they find a way to reinvigorate, they can expect further deterioration.
Click here to view the results of the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend report.
Harris Poll EquiTrend Methodology
A sample of 38,529 U.S. consumers ages 15 and over were surveyed online by Harris Interactive from January 31 through February 20, 2011 and the survey took an average of 40 minutes to complete. The sample was from the Harris Interactive online panel of respondents, a multimillion-member database consisting of cooperative respondents who have double-opted in to be randomly invited by Harris Interactive to take part in online surveys. The total number of brands rated was 1,529. Each respondent was asked to rate a total of 40 randomly selected brands. Each brand received approximately 1,000 ratings. Data were weighted to be representative of the entire U.S. population of consumers ages 15 and over based on age by sex, education, race/ethnicity, region, income, and data from respondents ages 18 and over were also weighted for their propensity to be online. This is the same precision weighting approach Harris has used to become the leading online polling organization when calling elections.