Top 10 Brands for Consumer Loyalty
Brand experience has reached new heights as consumers search for real innovation in products and services. The 15th annual Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index (CLEI) survey gathered the feedback of 46,000 consumers, 18 to 65 years of age, drawn from the 9 US Census Regions, to determine consumer attitudes toward 528 brands in 79 categories.
This year, category characteristics that contribute to the consumers' skyrocketing desire for experience and authentic innovation are exerting the strongest impact on customer decision-making and profitable engagement with the brand. Brands able to meet -- even exceed -- these expectations become category leaders.
While expectation levels for delight vary by product category, the Top 10 brands that are creating customer delight are:
1. Netflix
2. Apple
3. Walgreens
4. Discover
5. Hyundai
6. Mary Kay
7. McDonald's
8. J. Crew
9. Samsung
10. Nikon
But the rankings don’t stop there. Here, CGT sifted through Brand Keys list of category leaders to identify the consumer goods brands that received the highest loyalty and engagement ratings for:
Allergy Medicine (OTC): Claritin
Athletic Footwear: Asics
Beer (Light): Coors Light
Beer (Regular): Sam Adams and Coors
Bottled Water (Regular) Aquafina
Breakfast Cereal (Adult): Cheerios
Breakfast Cereal (Children): Frosted Flakes
Coffee: Dunkin' Donuts
Cosmetics: Mary Kay
Cosmetics (Luxury): Lancome
Diapers: Pampers
Facial Moisturizer: Mary Kay
Facial Moisturizer (Luxury): Elizabeth Arden
Hair Color: Clairol and L'Oreal
Hair Conditioners: Aveda
Hair Shampoo: Suave
Laundry Detergent: Tide
Pain Reliever (OTC): Advil
Paper Towels: Brawny
Pasta Sauce: Barilla
Pet Food - Canned (Cats): Purina
Pet Food - Canned (Dogs): Purina One
Pizza: Domino's
Soft Drink (Diet): Diet Pepsi
Soft Drink (Regular): Pepsi
Tequila: Patron
Toothpaste: Crest and Tom's of Maine
Tooth Whiteners: Crest Whitestrips
Vodka: Ketel One
"At a time when brands are struggling to differentiate themselves from their competition and to find ways to profitably engage their customers, the changes this year serve as a real benchmark for marketers. Products and services that respond with a truly consumer-centric view of their category - delighting the customer - based on predictive loyalty metrics, stand to gain the most, and establish themselves as this decade's brand leaders," says Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys founder and president.
For the Brand Keys 2011 survey, 46,000 consumers, 18 to 65 years of age, drawn from the 9 US Census Regions, self-selected the categories in which they are consumers, and the brands for which they are customers. Seventy-five percent (75 percent) were interviewed by phone, 20 percent via face-to-face interviews (to account for today's of the population who are cell phone-only consumers,) and the remaining consumers assessed categories and brands online.
Ten new categories were added to the 2011 CLEI and included Drug Stores, E-Readers, Hair Conditioners, Movie Rentals, Online Retailers, Shampoo, Social Networking Sites, Tequila, and Tooth Whiteners, bringing the total number of categories and brands to 79 and 528 respectively.
The complete listing of the 79 category rankings can be found at www.brandkeys.com/awards.