The concept of ‘brand intimacy’ has been developed by the company MBLM. It is defined as a new paradigm that, according to Mario Natarelli, managing partner at MBLM, in communication with Digital Journal “leverages and strengthens the emotional bonds between a person and a brand.”
MBLM has produced the ‘Brand Intimacy 2017 Report‘, which is the largest study of brands based on emotions. The analysis suggests that the most intimate companies are also the most profitable, being those that figure high on the S&P and Fortune 500 charts over the past ten years for revenue and profit. The inference is that those companies that have a stronger connection with their customers are those that are likely to more successful and instill a sense of loyalty with their customer base.
The analysis reveals that the world’s most intimate company is the technology firm Apple. This is followed by the media conglomerate Disney, with retailer and technology company Amazon. These headline outcomes derive from interviews of 6,000 consumers and 54,000 brand evaluations. The data relates to consumers in the U.S., Mexico and UAE.
Aside from the top three, the other brands which feature in the top ten are: Harley Davidson, Netflix, Nintendo, Samsung, Whole Foods, BMW and Toyota.
As well as a strong showing from technology companies, Mario Natarelli surmises: “We found that escapist brands performed especially well – mostly in the media and entertainment industry – due to the melancholy mood of the past year and the need for distraction, control and enjoyment.”
The report contains a number of interesting facts and trends. In terms of the strongest industry, from the wider list, the automotive sector is the most robust. Looking at the number one spot, Apple is the highest-rated because consumers score the company high for enhancement, ritual, identity and frequency of use. It also scores high for the category “can’t live without”, which is a very strong rating in terms of consumer loyalty.
For other companies featuring strongly the reasons for their higher rankings vary. With Disney, the key reason is nostalgia, which perhaps runs counter to Disney’s expanding media empire, acquiring Marvel and Lucasfilm. Hershey’s features high because is seen as the most indulgent brand.
With demographics, Amazon and Apple are more successful than most in crossing all age groups and income levels. With consumer spending power, PlayStation was ranked number with people whose incomes are within the $35,000 to $49,000 range. Moving up a level, Disney was ranked first with those who earn over $100,000 per year. For the very rich, interestingly, luxury brands did not fare well and score low on the brand intimacy index.
The new approach to examining brands and the companies behind them shows how consumer behavior is influenced by what the brand represents in terms of an emotive and cognitive level and it will be interesting to see how this new measure evolves in subsequent years.
