How “Deep” is the Connection with the Brand: Harris Interactive’s EquiTrend® Rankings

Harris Interactive has released its EquiTrend® Rankings of brands.  The rankings attempt to ascertain the connection between a brand and the consumer—in other words, “how deep is the connection between the brand and consumers.”  Harris Interactive EquiTrend®:

examines the predictors of in-market performance: Brand Equity, Consumer Connection, and Brand Momentum.

We capture and analyze the opinions of over 38,000 Americans on 1,500+ brands from 150+ industry categories and break responses down by 28 demographic attributes to help corporations target consumers, generate quality media coverage, support communication efforts, and inform future business strategy.

The capstone of the study is the Equity score, a snapshot of a brand’s strength, derived directly from consumer responses. Brands that are ranked highest in their categories receive a Harris Poll EquiTrend “Brand of the Year” award and the option to promote the award among their customers.    

The rankings are essentially broken down by industry and then product or service category.  The leading computer brand is Apple, which is followed by HP, Dell, and Sony.  The leading computer tablet is the IPad.  The next best are Kindle Fire, Google Nexus, Samsung Galaxy, and HP Slate.  In the consumer electronics category for cameras, the ranking is Canon, Nikon, and Sony.   And, in the food category for chocolate candy, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups is first followed by M&Ms Peanut, M&Ms Milk Chocolate, Hershey’s Kisses, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, Snickers, Kit Kat, and Reese’s Pieces.  For household products in the vacuum category, the ranking is Dyson, Hoover, Kenmore and LG.  The leading brand in telecommunications for mobile phone is Apple and is followed by HTC, Samsung, and LG.  There are over 23 "industries" and over 150 product or service categories.  Looking for a partner for branding purposes?  Enjoy!