As July 4 draws near Americans are preparing to watch spectacular fireworks displays and have fun with family and friends. But Independence Day also gives marketers an opportunity to celebrate. A new survey of iconic American brands has revealed which brands consumers consider the most patriotic, with Jeep, Coca-Cola, Disney and Ralph Lauren leading the pack.
“Marketers cue marching bands and majorettes, Uncle Sam and Statue of Liberty look-alikes to leverage patriotic emotions – and increase sales,” said Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys, Inc., the New York-based brand loyalty and customer engagement research consultancy in a press release. “When it comes to engaging consumers, waving the American flag and having an authentic foundation for being able to wave the flag are two entirely different things, and the consumer knows it.”
To determine which brands will lead the parade when it came to patriotism, Brand Keys conducted a statistical analysis to identify which of 230 brands are more associated with the value of patriotism. “We know that effectual brand engagement is more emotional than rational,” said Passikoff. “And while many emotional and category-specific values drive brand engagement, we had 5,427 consumers ages 16-to-65 – drawn from the nine U.S. Census Regions – evaluate a collection of 35 cross-category values, including patriotism.”
The following are the Brand Keys 2015 top 50 most patriotic brands. Percentages indicate emotional engagement strength for the individual value – patriotism.
- Jeep (98 percent)
- Coca-Cola (97 percent)
- Disney (96 percent)
- Ralph Lauren (95 percent)
- Levi Strauss (94 percent)
- Ford/Jack Daniels (93 percent)
- Harley Davidson/Gillette (92 percent)
- Apple/Coors (91 percent)
- American Express/Wrigley’s (90 percent)
- Gatorade/Zippo (89 percent)
- Amazon (88 percent)
- Hershey’s/Walmart (87 percent)
- Colgate (86 percent)
- Coach/New Balance (85 percent)
- AT&T/Google (84 percent)
- Marlboro/Sam Adams (83 percent)
- John Deere/Louisville Slugger/Smith & Wesson (82 percent)
- L.L. Bean/Facebook (81 percent)
- Craftsman Tools/GE/Wells Fargo (80 percent)
- 49ers/Cowboys/NFL/Patriots/ (79 percent)
- MLB/NY Yankees/Wrangler (78 percent)
- Campbell’s/Gibson/KFC (77 percent)
- Goodyear/Wilson Sporting Goods (76 percent)
- J&J/Kellogg’s/Tide (75 percent)
- Converse/Heinz (74 percent)
- McDonald’s (72 percent)
“It’s not surprising that many brands in the top 50 are American Icons,” said Passikoff. Even an increase, or decrease, of five percentage points is significant at the 95 percent confidence level. There were 11 brands in this year’s survey showed significant engagement growth for the value of patriotism including:
Jack Daniels (+18 percent)
Coach (+15 percent)
Major League Baseball (+11 percent)
Coors, Wells Fargo (+10 percent)
American Express, Wrigley (+9 percent)
Goodyear, KFC (+6 percent)
Craftsman, Johnson & Johnson (+5 percent)
Although this was a study of for-profit brands, the survey also included assessments for the United States armed services – the Coast Guard, Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy. Consumers gave all branches of the armed services an engagement strength of 100 percent when it came to patriotism.
“Last year we received comments about how some of the top 50 most patriotic brands didn’t belong because their products aren’t actually manufactured in the United States,” said Passikoff. “That reflects a reality of the global economy and only the rational side of the decision-making process. One thing marketers should have learned about 21st century brands is those that make an emotional connection with the consumer always have a strategic advantage over competitors when it come to the marketplace battle for the hearts, minds and loyalty of consumers. Make that connection and consumers will not only stand up and salute but more importantly they’ll buy.”