A new Brand Keys survey of iconic American brands has
revealed which brands consumers consider the most “patriotic.” Jeep, Coca-Cola,
Disney, and Ralph Lauren led the pack this year.
Independence Day gives marketers an opportunity to help
citizens celebrate. And, typically, brand advertising and social outreach
features patriotic flag-waving and red-white-and-blue motifs. Marketers cue
marching bands and majorettes, Uncle Sam and Statue of Liberty look-alikes to
try and leverage patriotic emotions. And, hopefully, increased sales during the
weeks surrounding July 4th.
When it comes to engaging consumers, waving the American
flag and having an authentic foundation for being able to wave the flag are two
entirely different things, and the consumer knows it. More importantly,
believability is key to the engagement paradigm. The more engaged a consumer
with a particular emotional value and the associated brand, the more likely
they’ll trust that emotion and act positively on that belief. Generally
speaking, where a brand can establish a real emotional connection, consumers
are six times more likely to believe and behave positively toward the brand.
To determine which brands will lead the parade when it came
to patriotism, Brand Keys did a statistical ‘drill-down’ to identify which of
230 brands are more associated with the value of “patriotism.” We know that
effectual brand engagement is more emotional than rational. And while many
emotional and category-specific values ultimately drive brand engagement, 5,427
consumers ages 16 to 65, drawn from the nine U.S. Census Regions, evaluated a
collection of 35 values including “patriotism.”
The following are Brand Keys 2015 top-50 most patriotic
brands, with percentages indicating emotional engagement strength for the individual
value of “patriotism.”
- Jeep (98%)
- Coca-Cola (97%)
- Disney (96%)
- Ralph Lauren (95%)
- Levi Strauss (94%)
- Ford/Jack Daniels (93%)
- Harley Davidson/Gillette (92%)
- Apple/Coors (91%)
- American Express/Wrigley’s (90%)
- Gatorade/Zippo (89%)
- Amazon (88%)
- Hershey’s/Walmart (87%)
- Colgate (86%)
- Coach/New Balance (85%)
- AT&T/Google (84%)
- Marlboro/Sam Adams (83%)
- John Deere/Louisville Slugger/Smith & Wesson (82%)
- L.L. Bean/Facebook (81%)
- Craftsman Tools/GE/Wells Fargo (80%)
- 49ers/Cowboys/NFL/Patriots/ (79%)
- MLB/NY Yankees/Wrangler (78%)
- Campbell’s/Gibson/KFC (77%)
- Goodyear/Wilson Sporting Goods (76%)
- J&J/Kellogg’s/Tide (75%)
- Converse/Heinz (74%)
- McDonald’s (72%)
This was a survey of for-profit brands, but as we do every
year we included assessments for the United States armed services: the Air
Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy. Consumers gave all branches of the
armed services an engagement strength of 100% when it came to “patriotism.” We take
this opportunity to recognize that and to thank them for their service.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that many brands in the top-50 are
American Icons, which is confirmed by the movement up the list into the top-50
of Coach, Converse, Goodyear, Johnson & Johnson, Major League Baseball, and
Wells Fargo. It’s important for brands to accurately measure these values since
values are the way consumers define what they actually expect from a brand.
Meet or exceed expectations for those values and you have a differentiated
brand, engaged customers, and increased sales. An increase, or decrease, of
five percent is significant at the 95% confidence level and 11 brands in this
year’s survey that showed significant engagement growth for the value of
“patriotism” included:
Jack Daniels (+18%)
Coach (+15%)
Major League Baseball (+11%)
Coors, Wells Fargo (+10%)
American Express, Wrigley (+9%)
Goodyear, KFC (+6%)
Craftsman, Johnson & Johnson (+5%)
It is important to note that the assessments in this survey
do not mean that other brands are not patriotic, or that they don’t possess
patriotic resonance. There are, as we mentioned, rational aspects, like being
an American company, or being “Made in the USA,” or having nationally directed
CSR activities and sponsorships, that all play a part in the make-up of any
brand. But if you want to differentiate via brand values, especially one this
emotional, if there is believability, good marketing just gets better. In some
cases six times better.
Last year we received comments about how some of the brands
didn’t belong on the list because their products aren’t actually manufactured
in the United States. That may reflect the reality of the global economy, but it
also only reflects one part of the consumers’ brand evaluation and decision-making
process. The rational side. If you actually have to remind people that a
particular brand is manufactured in the United States, like some “foreign”
automotive brands, for example, that’s a fine rational argument, but it doesn’t
resonate emotionally. Neither is “patriotism”, as one reporter so incorrectly
put it last year, brands benefitting “from being identified as distinctly
American and therefore ‘patriotic,’” because that’s not what the study is
about. There are lots of “American” brands out there. But when it comes to
“patriotism,” it’s more about emotional values and connections than being able
to identify it’s global origin. Much more.
And one important thing marketers should have learned about
21st century brands is that if you can make an authentic emotional connection
with the consumer you’ll always have a strategic advantage over competitors.
Particularly when it comes to the marketplace battle for the hearts, minds, and
loyalty of consumers.
Make that connection and consumers will not only stand up
and salute, but more importantly they’ll buy.
Find out more about what makes customer loyalty happen and how Brand Keys metrics is able to predict future consumer behavior: brandkeys.com. Visit our YouTube channel to learn more about Brand Keys methodology, applications and case studies.
Find out more about what makes customer loyalty happen and how Brand Keys metrics is able to predict future consumer behavior: brandkeys.com. Visit our YouTube channel to learn more about Brand Keys methodology, applications and case studies.