As we move forward in this new year, with the list of Oscar® winners now becoming a fleeting memory, we can turn our attention to other lists of interest to branding professionals.
Hot off the presses is a list of the top 50 Millennial brands. The results of 2015 poll conducted by Moosylvania, a digital ad agency, of one thousand Millennials ( a US population of about 73 million with $170 billion in purchasing power) revealed their top 10 brands to be (in descending order): Nike (and its Swoosh Logo), Apple (and its Apple logo), Samsung, SONY, Walmart, Target (and Target logo), Microsoft, Coca-Cola, the Air Jordan logo, and Pepsi. The most important characteristics shared by these brands, in descending order of importance to the survey respondents, are : (1) they are high-quality products or services (2) they are products or services that the respondents would recommend to others (3) the brand fits their personality (4) the brand shares their sense of social responsibility (5) the brand shares similar interests, and (6) the brand says important things. http://moosylvania.com/millennials/Moosylvania_Millennial_Study_2015.pdf. Matching some of these brands to some of these characteristics is, at least to me, surprising. However, given that each of these are iconic lifestyle brands that likely were introduced to these Millennials very early on in their lives and stayed with them, the results make sense.
Interestingly, only a few of these, according to Forbes in 2014, are among the “world’s most valuable brands”: Apple, Microsoft, Coca-Cola and Samsung. The other six in the Forbes top ten are Google, IBM, McDonald’s, General Electric, Toyota and Louis Vuitton. http://www.forbes.com/powerful-brands/list/.
Wall Street also has a list – of the brands most likely to disappear in 2015 because of mergers and consolidation or, to be kind, it’s their time. This list includes well-known brands like Lululemon, Warner Cable, Zynga, and Blackberry. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-brands-disappear-2015-172428388.html
I didn’t find any recent studies of the favorite brands of the largest population with the largest purchasing power in the US: the “Baby Boomers” (people over 50). However, a 2012 Nielsen study identifies this group as “marketing’s most valuable generation,” yet under-served when it comes to brand marketing. The study does identify what this generation likes from its brands, with many of these traits in synchronicity with those of Millennials; however, the study also shows that Boomers are not easily enrolled or maintained as brand loyalists– brands have to work hard to convince them that there’s value to be had and, more importantly, kept. And unlike prior “aging” generations, Boomers are tech savvy, are healthy (for the most part) and are voracious consumers. In essence, they don’t see themselves as aging and place heavy emphasis on being, and remaining, youthful. http://boomagers.com/sites/boomagers/files/Boomers_-_Marketing’s_Most_Valuable_Generation.pdf
Guilty as charged.