Brand with Biggest Consumer Impact: Apple

A survey by the UK's online magazine brandchannel.com finds the Apple brand has the biggest influence on consumers...and Microsoft is most in need of a makeover.

The results of a new survey released by the UK online magazine brandchannel.com finds that the Apple brand has the most influence on consumers…at least in terms of what respondents said about how brands impact their lives and behavior. Overall, the Apple brand won six of the Brandjunkie survey’s ten categories, including “which brand inspires you the most?” and “what brand can you not live without?”

The Brandjunkies survey collected responses from nearly 2,000 professionals and students in 107 countries between February 24 and March 9, and focused on respondents’ opinions and impressions of brands, rather than on the market value of the companies behind a brand, or on respondents’ impressions of the overall economic impact of a brand: thus, the results contrast sharply with brand perceptions of industry “movers and shakers,” who regularly slot brands like Coca-Col and Johnson & Johnson as the world’s top brands.

Software giant Microsoft also took the top slot in two categories: “if you could rebrand any brand, what would it be?” and “what brand do you want to argue with?” The so-called “nation brand” of the United States took second place in as the brand respondents would most like to rebrand.

Curiously, respondents essentially declined to resurrect any famous brands that are no longer on the market, saying brands like Cingular, Atari, and TWA vanished from the earth with good reason. Respondents also strongly rejected the idea of any brand “going green”—despite ad campaigns designed to position many leading companies as eco-friendly—saying that, so far, “green” moves from major brands amount to window dressing and efforts to keep shareholders happy.