The FINANCIAL — Brands associated with delivering the entertainment content we want, when we want, are rapidly increasing their brand equity, according to findings from the 2014 Harris Poll EquiTrend (EQ).
An examination of the 100 highest rated brands for 2014 shows brands that enable consumers to personalize their entertainment content and scheduling are growing their equity at a faster rate than brands in other categories. Netflix increased at the fastest rate among the Top 100 measured brands over the last two years (2012 to 2014) and Pandora Internet Radio also showed impressive equity growth over the past two years, with the 4th-highest rate of equity growth among the Top 100 brands within that period. More than 1,500 brands were assessed across 170 categories this year – from automotive to department stores – on the Harris Poll EquiTrend Brand Equity Index, which is comprised of three key factors: Familiarity, Quality and Purchase Consideration.
Findings from the 26th annual study show that not just streaming entertainment brands, but the devices and operating systems that enable them, are among those most aggressively accumulating equity over the last two years. Android and Apple (both its iPads and its computers) are also among the top 10 brands experiencing aggressive equity increases. Amazon once again holds the highest brand equity score in the study and retains its e-Retailer Brand of the Year distinction…and it is now heavily promoting its Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video services.
"Brand equity is not a measure that is typically subject to strong year-over-year vacillation; the growth curve is generally slow and steady," said Joan Sinopoli, Senior Vice President and Solutions Consultant at Nielsen Consumer Insights (formerly Harris Interactive). "Netflix is a market disruptor: it addressed a consumer need for convenience and variety when it took on brick-and-mortar video stores. Since then, the brand stumbled with its fee restructuring, took corrective action to restore consumer trust, and is taking advantage of the trend toward individualized entertainment. It's now embarking on developing its own content, such as House of Cards," Sinopoli added.
"Something else these brands have in common is their ability to connect on a very deep level with the consumers they seek to attract. They are all brands that consumers are passionate about-witness the continuing standoff between Android, which has become a strong brand all on its own, and the Apple products fueled by iOS; both the systems themselves and the products which run them inspire passion and debate among their followers. Which system you choose becomes a reflection of who you are and how you see yourself," Sinopoli said.
So has America become so "wired" that it has lost its softer side? EquiTrend results suggest not. Multiple Hershey brands, including Hershey Kisses and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, multiple M&M brands as well as Oreo cookies, occupy six out of the 10 top overall positions in the EquiTrend Brand Equity Index, and the classic Hershey's Milk Chocolate Candy Bar also acquired equity at an unusually fast pace over the last two years. Are these odd bedfellows with the individual entertainment brands? Not so, according to Sinopoli. "After all," she notes, "you have to eat something while bingeing your favorite series."
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