Consumers rated 3,000 brands for this year’s Harris Poll and the results range from predictable to downright weird
It’s not as easy being a brand as it used to be. In the age of social media, intensely partisan consumers are ready to repuporse every piece of news into a salvo in the neverending culture war. One day you’re on top of the world, the next your pizza chain CEO is forced to resign for using the N-word in a media training exercise. That’s before we even get to all the perils of social media, where one errant tweet can create a media maelstrom, or else spark a boycott from either the left, as we’ve seen with Chick-fil-A, or the right, as we’ve seen with Keurig and Nike and the NFL, to name but a fraction.
Some brands keep things slow and steady on the other hand. That’s where the Harris Poll’s annual EquiTrend Study comes in. Now in its 30th year, the poll attempts to measure brand health over time across a variety of consumer fields. To do so they judge on three criteria: familiarity, quality and purchase consideration. This year, they say, 77,000 US consumers rated 3,000 brands to crown a winner in each category. The results range from predictable, to surprising, to downright weird.
Many of the food categories are all over the map. Favorite coffee shop goes to Krispy Kreme, who apparently serve coffee, while the nation’s favorite Mexican goes to Taco Bell, who apparently serve Mexican food. The California-based pizza chain Blaze Pizza is an upstart, but not necessarily controversial choice, while Five Guys Burgers & Fries is a respectable result as well. In a rare tie, Panera and Subway share the top sandwich shop spot, although the poll was probably conducted before Subway just announced the end of their $5 foot long promotion, so those results might not hold next year. Brand loyalty, as the people behind the poll will tell you, can be a fickle thing.
Being the biggest player in a particular field isn’t necessarily bulletproof in terms of consumer satisfaction or loyalty anymore it turns out, as the Harris Poll CEO, John Gerzema, explained in a statement. Consumers are more apt to align themselves with quality smaller brands this year. There’s a reason why you see the word “craft” thrown around so much now after all.
“The EQ study reveals that brand equity is no longer guaranteed by size or media impressions,” Gerzema said. “This is actually a time when being ‘big’ is code for being the establishment. As private label and the popularity of craft products rises, brands are now differentiated on their values, personal connection and their ability to build community.”
And to not be overtly racist, it probably goes without saying.