iPhone top brand for US consumers
Cosmetic companies and retailers inspire most loyalty
Apple’s iPhone is the brand that inspires the most loyalty among US consumers in a new survey.
The iPhone was followed by in second and third by Samsung’s handsets and retail giant Walmart in the 10th annual Top 50 Brand Keys Loyalty Leaders survey by Brand Keys. The survey also found that cosmetics and retailers were the categories inspiring the most customer loyalty.
The Top 15 list of brands with the highest levels of lotyalty is:
1. iPhone
2. Samsung headsets
3. Walmart
4. Grey Goose vodka
5. Apple Computers
6. Hyundai
7. Amazon
8. J. Crew
9. BlackBerry
10. Avis.
11. Google
12. Mary Kay.
13. J Crew (retail)
14. Dunkin’ Donuts
15. Microsoft’s Bing
Cosmetics and moisturizers, led by Mary Kay, Maybelline, Estee Lauder and Clinique, make up 30% of the leading brands. Technology brands improved to account for 26% of the Top 50 brands. Retailers also gained, accounting for 16% of the Top 50, with Kohl’s, Target, Sam’s Club and B.J.’s figuring highly.
Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys, said technology and cosmetics products have a natural advantage over other categories.
“It’s not hard to understand the emotional connection there,” Passikoff said. “Emotion is the momentum engine for loyalty. People think about brands as ‘stuff with names,’ but real brands are not only known, they are also known for something in particular, something that differentiates them from other category offerings.”
In interviews conducted August 20 to 30, Brand Keys polled 35,000 consumers about 501 brands in 71 categories. The survey included consumers 18 to 65 years old, with 80 percent of interviews done by phone, 15 percent personal interviews to account for cell phone-only households and 5 percent were done online. Brand Keys added 60 new brands to the list this year.
Nearly three-quarters of the top 50 loyalty leaders came from three categories: cosmetics and moisturizers, technology, and retail. Passikoff said the emotional connection forged with cosmetic brands impacts self-image, technology changes the way people live and retail improves their quality of life.