Tuesday 17 February 2015

My funny Valentine

As a nice bit of PR, the London agency Isobel has recently conducted a poll amongst 1,500 respondents to find Britain's most-loved (and most hated) brands. The results are on the agency's website here.

Off to the hate list first, and, political parties aside, the usual suspects are there - Ryanair, McDonald's, Starbucks, Facebook and KFC. I was surprised to see PayPal didn't make an appearance, but there we are. Top hated of what I call proper brands is Marmite, at Number 3, but I suspect there's a lot of "love to hate" going on there.

Turning to the most-loved list, the bulk of these don't seem out of place at all - Cadbury's, Walkers, Heinz, BBC One, PG Tips, M&S, Boots - these are all brands that have a nice, lovable, cuddly, mumsy feeling to them. They are part of the cultural fabric of the UK.

But the number one spot? It's taken by amazon, which I find extraordinary. Have people not heard about some of amazon's less than exemplary business practises? Or do they turn a blind eye?

The answer is found in how the question is asked: people were asked to rate brands on a number of "love factors" - loyalty, brands they would miss if no longer available, brands they rely on. I strongly suspect that with amazon, there is less "love" going on here and more habit, convenience/ accessibility and lack of perceived alternatives.

Maybe it's a case of love the one you're with.

2 comments:

Barbara said...

Hi Sue, it’s hard to believe that Amazon took the top spot, but ease of use goes a long way to making something ‘loveable’ and it’s certainly easy to spend money on their site! We all do it and then (in my case) wish we hadn't.

Sue Imgrund said...

amazon was a dream come true when I first moved to Germany back in the 90s, but you're right - it's sometimes so difficult to find alternatives. Kindle is the best example - very few people know you can buy ebooks for Kindles in places other than amazon!