YouGov’s annual brand rankings reveal that Band-Aid is the most positively perceived brand in the US overall. The adhesive bandage brand sits slightly ahead of dish soap brand, Dawn and e-commerce giant, Amazon who are placed at second and third, respectively.
Band-Aid, Johnson & Johnson’s brand of bandage and first aid-supplies, has taken the top spot in YouGov’s BrandIndex rankings for the United States for the fourth year in a row with a score of 47.8.
The rankings were based on the Index score from YouGov BrandIndex, which is a measure of overall brand health calculated by taking the average of Impression, Quality, Value, Satisfaction, Recommend and Reputation. Each day, YouGov BrandIndex speaks to thousands of consumers about thousands of brands across dozens of sectors, continuously measuring public perception.
This year’s pandemic caused Americans to stock their homes with cleansers and disinfectants, escalating demand for dish soap and detergent brands such as Dawn and Clorox with both brands placing second and fifth, respectively with scores of 47.6 and 46.1.
With more time at home leading to higher consumption of digital media, streaming companies such as Netflix (44.5) and Amazon.com (46.6) undoubtedly benefited from a more captive audience this year.
The home improvement retailer, Home Depot, made its debut to America’s top rankings list, earning tenth place with a score of 42.2. The company saw an influx of Americans buying supplies to improve their homes and tackle various do-it-yourself projects following mandated stay-at-home orders.
YouGov also revealed the brands that have made the greatest improvement to their Index score over the past 12 months in the US.
Comcast’s Xfinity is the most improved brand, with a change in score of +4.5. The company’s recent improvement emerged as the Covid-19 pandemic caused Americans to rely on their at-home broadband and cable services more than ever.
Chipotle also showed positive signs of brand health, with a four-point uptick from last year’s rankings. The fast-casual chain turned its focus to food safety after a string of food-borne illness incidents, luring back customers with a loyalty program and new additions to its limited menu.
Levi’s also showed a four-point uptick in this year’s top improvers list. The apparel brand outperformed most of its stock peers this year by investing in its direct-to-consumer channels, rather than relying on physical stores.
Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup earned a spot on this year’s top improver list (+2.8). At the start of the pandemic, it was reported that instant ramen soups were an essential pantry staple for Americans with people clamoring to buy the item at stores.
Other brands which have improved their brand health over the past year include Venmo (+3.4) Tesla (+3.2), Lysol (+3.2), Pfizer (+3.1), CeraVe (+2.9) and Roku (+2.7).
Tech companies dominate the global best brand rankings
YouGov also released this year’s annual global best brands rankings with Google taking the top spot. Tech brands dominate the top of the list with the search and advertising giant followed by WhatsApp, YouTube, Samsung and Amazon.
With Netflix and Facebook in sixth and seventh respectively, the only non-tech-related brands in the top ten are Singaporean ecommerce platform Shopee (eighth), Swedish retailer IKEA (ninth) and US sportswear titan Nike (tenth).
YouGov BrandIndex conducts 11 million interviews across the world every year who answer questions about a company’s quality, value and their level of satisfaction with the brand, among other measures. YouGov BrandIndex operates in over 40 countries across the globe, covering markets in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Australasia.
For this year’s global list, YouGov used data from 33 markets – data from countries that cover three sectors or fewer were not counted in the top 10.
Digital brands dominate the global ranking and with good reason. By their very nature the likes of Google, YouTube, and WhatsApp are available in most places on Earth to anyone with internet access. However, while much of the list has only been around for the last couple of decades, classic brands IKEA and Nike that have been around a good while longer also make the list.
Methodology:
The brands in YouGov Annual Rankings were ranked based on the Index score, which is a measure of overall brand health calculated by taking the average of Impression, Quality, Value, Satisfaction, Recommend and Reputation.
The Index Rankings chart shows the brands with the highest average Index scores between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020. The Index Improvers chart ranks the brands with the highest increase in Index, comparing scores from the previous 12-month period. Both scores are representative of the general population of adults 18+.
All Index scores listed have been rounded to a single decimal place; however, we have used additional precision to assign ranks.
All brands have been tracked for at least 6 months to be included in the rankings and have been tracked for at least 6 months in the prior year’s period (as well as being currently tracked) to appear in the Improvers tables.
For this year’s global list, YouGov used data from 33 markets – data from countries that cover three sectors or fewer were not counted in the top 10. The rankings use the Index score which assesses overall brand health. It takes into account perceptions of a brand’s reputation and whether consumers would recommend the brand to others, as well as whether it represents good value and quality.
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