Amazon (Buzz Score of 30) is atop the brand buzz rankings again according to the YouGov BrandIndex, which measures consumer perceptions of brands. The list, covering the first half of 2015, finds Netflix (27.9) continuing its ascent to the second spot, up from the #3 spot in 2014 and the 12th position in 2013.
Netflix swapped places with YouTube (24.3), #2 last year and #6 the year before.
Rounding out the top 5 in the first half of the year are the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (22; the only health care brand in the top 10) and an apparent tie between Subway and Apple (each at 21.8).
It will be interesting to see in the end-of-year rankings whether Subway’s brand perception is affected by recent investigations, and also if Prime Day has an impact on Amazon’s brand buzz.
Buzz Scores are determined by asking consumers whether they have heard anything about the brand during the prior two weeks and subtracting the percentage who answer they have heard something negative from the proportion who have heard something positive.
The top 10 list for the first half of the year also includes Google (#8) and Ford (#9), each of which made the top 10 for 2014 overall. Absent that list but making it into the most recent top 10 are Samsung (#7) and Lowe’s (#10), although both of those brands made it into 2014’s mid-year rankings.
General Motors emerged as the most improved, with an overall Buzz Score of 0.2 that was 12.7 higher than in H1 2014 (-12.6). Target was next on the most-improved list, increasing its Buzz Score more than 10 points, from 3.1 to 13.9.
Segmenting the brand buzz rankings by demographic, YouGov shows that:
- Amazon (28.4), Apple (24.8) and Netflix (24.6) are the top-perceived brands among LGBT consumers;
- Netflix (37.6) takes the top spot from Amazon (33.2) among Millennials, with YouTube (31) not far behind;
- Parents’ top 3 mirror the general population, led by Amazon (31.1) and Netflix (29) and followed by YouTube (25.8);
- Samsung (35.2) leads the list among African-Americans, ahead of Netflix (34.4) and Google (33.9);
- Amazon (34.3) tops the rankings for Hispanics, followed by Netflix (31.5), YouTube (31.2) and Samsung (31.1); and
- Target is the most improved brand from the year-earlier period (H1 2015) for each of the above groups save for parents, where it was behind only General Motors.