ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

Amazon outranks Apple in brand loyalty

Amazon has outranked Apple in the brand loyalty index, showing that it has a broader reach in terms of products, services and opportunities, according to new research by Brand Keys.

According to the 2011 Brand Keys Brand Loyalty Leaders Top 100 Index, consumers seek emotional and social connections with brands. Amazon moved to the No. 1 slot, displacing Apple?s iPhone in second place.

?Apple does great in its category ? they're top in smartphones and computers,? said Robert Passikoff, founder/president of Brand Keys, New York.

?Apple is likely to be No. 1 in tablets when we add it to the mix next year, but the company is still constrained by individual products,? he said. ?Amazon is not so restricted and, thus, consumers have a higher degree of engagement and loyalty to them.?

Mobile research
The index tracks 528 brands in 79 categories.

According to Brand Keys, several retailers ranked lower than last year in the index ? an indicator of the challenges wrought by the economy.

Brands on the list include Zappos ? No. 6 and new to this year?s list; Walmart ? No. 13, down from No. 3 in 2010; J. Crew ? No. 21, down 8 spots and Target ? No. 33, down 7.

According to Mr. Passikoff, Amazon outranked Apple due to the loyalty of engagement the company has with its customers.

?Critical finding is that brands that want to engender loyalty need to be able to actually delight their customers while at the same time being able to create and maintain meaningful and believable differentiation from the competition,? Mr. Passikoff said. ?Just showing up in the marketplace isn't enough.

?The reason why there are fewer tech brands on the top of the list has nothing to do with their products, it has to do with the fact that those products are undifferentiated from others in the category and have thus turned from brands into category placeholders, such as companies that are known for providing a certain product, but not recognized or anything in particular about that product,? he said.

The company is constantly ramping up its digital and mobile strategies to further engage consumers and provide a more seamless experience for them.

"Amazon is a great brand, but they are an online marketplace of items sold by Amazon, along with aggregated offers from thousands of other merchants," said Wilson Kerr, Boston-based mobile consultant.

"They do not design, build and sell physical goods," he said. "Apple on the other hand, designs and builds devices that people love and sells them."

Top leaders
Brand Keys also found beauty brands such as Mary Kay, Estee Lauder, Crest Whitestrips and Maybelline accounted for one-third ? 32 percent ? of the 2011 edition of loyalty leaders.

The company has also found that Samsung is this year?s loyalty MVP, winning mentions in four categories including cell phone, computers, smartphones and HDTV.

In addition to loyalty winners, there were losers as well.

The bottom ten losers who showed the lowest levels of loyalty comprised of Bank of America, Dr. Pepper, Budweiser, Friendster, BP, Tylenol, NHL, Taco Bell, American Apparel and Borders.
Brand Keys also included a social networks category.

?Most surprising finding is the speed with which consumers culled social networking sites and then how quickly the sites themselves managed to move ? not only into the top 100 brands with the most loyal customers ? but into the top 25,? Mr. Passikoff said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is staff reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York