In its follow-up study exploring the impact of COVID on certain brands, MBLM found that consumers surveyed demonstrated a 23 per cent increase in the number of brands they have an emotional connection with.
The Brand Intimacy COVID Study also points to higher scores across all brand intimacy stages: up 55 per cent in the “sharing” category, 37 per cent for “bonding”, and 17 per cent for “fusing”. The company included 100 brands from 10 industries, with the study focused on the pandemic.
“Our COVID rankings show many of our top Brand Intimacy performers continuing to lead, with only three new top 10 entrants (Google, YouTube, and Toyota),” said MBLM in its report. “However, we do see a shift in focus, with more media and entertainment brands in the top 10 and fewer automotive brands.”
The top 10 brands are Apple, Amazon, Google, Walmart, YouTube, Toyota, Disney, Netflix, Chevrolet, and PlayStation.
It is worth noting that, although Netflix ranks eighth, it has the second highest increase in emotional connection since the start of the pandemic, and ranks third in increased usage since COVID. Consumers also increased their emotional connection to Amazon (ranking fifth in this area).
The Top performers by archetypes are Apple for “fulfillment” (Toyota in 2020), Mercedes-Benz for “identity” (Pinterest in 2020), Apple again for “enhancement” and “ritual”—same as in 2020, Campbell’s for “nostalgia” versus Disney in 2020, and Ben & Jerry’s for “indulgence” versus Starbucks in 2020.
As for the top performing brands by stage, BMW takes over from Disney in the “sharing” category this year, while Walmart takes over from Netflix in the brand “bonding” category and Apple takes the lead for brand “fusing” over Amazon.
For 2021, Zoom is a new entrant, with consumers increasing their emotional connection with the brand since COVID. And Purell is also a new entrant, with the best response to the crisis and with consumers willing to pay 20 per cent more since the start of the pandemic.
By gender, Amazon ranks first for men, followed by YouTube and Google. For women, it is Apple, Amazon, and Toyota.
By age group, Apple, YouTube, Amazon, Target and Google rank in the top five for consumers aged 18-34. For the 35-44 group, the brands are Samsung, Walmart, Apple, Amazon, and PlayStation. And for 45-65, it is Amazon, Google, BMW, Apple and Netflix.
“Millennials and those aged 35–44 feature two retail brands on their lists, and those 45–64 have the most varied top five, featuring two tech brands, one retail, one automotive and one Media & Entertainment,” said MBLM. “During COVID, consumers aged 35–44 have had the greatest increase in connecting emotionally to brands. Their average quotient score rose 28 per cent.”
In the industry ranking, Media & Entertainment is in first place with a quotient score of 50.3 and the top brand in this category is YouTube. This is followed by Automotive (49) with the top brand being Toyota, Retail (46.5) with the top brand being Amazon, Tech & Telecom (45.9) with the top brand being Apple, and Consumer Goods (38.4) with the top brand being Hershey’s.
Source: MBLM: Brand Intimacy COVID Study
