BrandIndex News

Apple has proven that celebrities go well with Siri. Apple’s new iPhone ads featuring Zooey Deschanel and Samuel L. Jackson coincide with an increase in consumer perception for the brand among 18-34 year olds in the US. The recent improvement in consumer perception has pushed iPhone ahead of Android and distanced itself even more from the rest of the mobile device sector. While both men and women were behind the perception lift, men registered the strongest push for the iPhone. Android’s perception with the 18 – 34 demo dipped slightly when the iPhone campaign began running at the end of ... read more

Perhaps J.C. Penney should send a thank you note to conservative group One Million Moms each time they issue a statement complaining about the retail chain in the US.The protests of One Million Moms seem to coincide with positive jolts in J.C. Penney’s consumer perception with mothers.Like when Ellen Degeneres was named as their spokesperson, J.C. Penney’s inclusion of a lesbian couple in their current Mother’s Day catalog incited a statement from One Million Moms to its members – and sent the retail chain’s consumer perception soaring with U.S. mothers for more than a week.The incidents appear to be helping ... read more

Apple is virtually “Teflon” in public reputation in the US, at least in the context of recent “diverted taxes” revelations, and especially compared to last year’s GE “zero tax bill” scandal. Apple’s consumer reputation has barely budged since the Sunday April 29th New York Times story revealing that the company avoids paying taxes in its home state of California and 20 other states. On the other hand, when the same newspaper revealed GE reaped $14.2 billion in worldwide profits in 2010, yet paid zero taxes in the U.S. and claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion, the reaction was more ... read more

Wal-Mart’s Mexico bribery scandal might be causing the retailer some pain in the US and may yet force personnel resignations, but other brands like Target and Taco Bell experienced significantly worse perception crises in the past 18 months and they took two months to mend. Wal-Mart’s recent consumer perception decline is similar in magnitude to when it was hit with a class-action discrimination lawsuit, with the latter causing the chain to take three weeks to recover in the public eye. However, YouGov BrandIndex data shows rival Target received a much more significant consumer backlash in summer 2010 when it donated ... read more

History Channel, Subway and Ford are the best perceived brands by seniors in the US. There’s been a lot of recent press coverage about how millennials are turning out to be a marketing disappointment because of their lack of disposable income and job prospects (Bloomberg BusinessWeek called them “penny pinching” just last month). Americans ages 65+ on the other hand, have on average been much less impacted by the great recession, experiencing a net worth decline of just 6% between 2005 and 2009 vs. a 28% decline among all Americans according to a recent Pew Research Center study. Adults 65+ ... read more

Despite high TV ratings and attention, the NBA and NFL are experiencing drops in consumer perception over the past nine weeks in the US. Entering into the playoffs, the NBA’s consumer perception has sunk below the other major sports leagues and NASCAR. While the TV ratings may be high, the player lockout that delayed the start of the season by two months may be having a lasting impact on perception. Additionally, side stories such as Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard’s controversial attempts to get coach Stan Van Gundy fired, Lamar Odom suddenly getting dumped by his team, provocative player tweets, ... read more

Chrysler’s four new “we’re coming back” ads, which premiered just a few weeks ago, have pushed the Detroit auto maker to its best potential car buyer perception since at least early 2009 in the US. Chrysler rode a powerful wave of positive coverage in January, with brand sales rising 44% and unveiling its new Dodge Dart, based on Fiat platform created in Italy, only to hit a wall once its much-debated Super Bowl “Halftime in America” spot aired. The ad seemed to cool Chrysler’s auto buyer perception – at least temporarily. However, the new first-person narrated, motivational TV spots seem ... read more

Discover card not only bounced back early in consumer perception after a major security breach rattled the whole industry three weeks ago, their perception has now surpassed MasterCard and is homing in on first place Visa in the US. Since the breach was reported on March 31st, consumer perception of Visa and MasterCard among adults 18+has declined considerably, likely reflecting the press coverage which has tended to focus on these two brands. As a matter of fact, MasterCard has now dropped to parity with American Express. On the other hand, American Express experienced only a modest drift down since the ... read more

While coffee drinkers appear to be getting over the revelation of Starbucks using “cochineal extract” in its Strawberry & Creme Frappuccino coloring in the US, the general population’s perception of the chain has dropped considerably more. Since the news broke on March 27th from a vegan news site, Starbucks perception from both coffee drinkers and the general population declined for a week. Normally, coffee drinkers rank Starbucks much higher than the population at large, and still do after the incident. However, the drop didn’t last long for coffee drinkers, many of whom probably patronize Starbucks regularly – by April 5th, ... read more

Taco Bell Doritos Locos -- the merger of fast food and salty snacks – appears to have boosted consumer perception of both brands, especially with regular patrons of Mexican restaurants in the US. A week after the campaign broke on March 8th, Mexican restaurant patrons’ perception of Taco Bell broke beyond the average perception for top national QSR chains, where it still remains by a healthy amount. Although the original combo dish, which debuted along with the brand’s new “Live Mas” tagline, helped Taco Bell with Mexican QSR diners, it has had a milder positive impact with all adults 18+, ... read more