Twice a year, the brand tracking group YouGov BrandIndex publishes its "list of the US brands with the most Buzz." To calculate a brand's Buzz score, the group asks survey subjects, "If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?"
Subway, Ford and Lowe's had the three highest Buzz scores this year.
YouGov BrandIndex (not a fan of spaces?) also breaks down the results by several demographic categories, including political party affiliation.
Brands with the best "Buzz"
Soooo, some obvious differences here, huh-- where Democrats and Republicans get their info, how they ship things and what they do in their free time. Dems are clearly keeping busy watching movies on their Apple computers, buying cheap homegoods at Target, and munching on Cheerios.
Meanwhile, the Republicans are building stuff with Lowe's lumber, flipping between that WWI doc on the History Channel and Shark Week on the Discovery channel.
But the most outstanding difference has to be Republicans' love for Olive Garden! Seriously Republicans? Olive Garden? The mass produced "when you're here, you're family" feel is really what you're into? There might be another side to this "culture war" that I've never before considered.
At least we can all agree on Subway...
What would your brand breakdown look like? The comments are open.
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I have no evidence to prove this, but some of Subway's buzz may be unwanted.
I hope it would be obvious to most that I'm very involved in dogs.
Subway has a "Sportsman of the Year" award. This year the award went to Michael Vick. It has totally outraged the dog community because of what he has done.
My guess is that this is one issue that transcends politics.
I don't patronize Subway because I dislike their food. It looks like I'll have to work on my friends to avoid them also.
The Subway boycott was my first thought.
My place of work gives $5.00 on Subway gift cards to those who use an alternative mode of transportation to work other than driving a car alone for 10 days a month. So I carpool 10 days a month. Sorry Dutchie it's food in my mouth. I am trying the pulled pork special today.
Wow, so Vick committed a crime, was convicted, paid fines, and served jail time. All this transpired years ago. And because of that, he can't receive praise for his entirely unrelated work performance?
Even more, you propose a boycott because someone acknowledged that work performance.
That's pretty weak.
I highly recommend listening to (reading the transcript) of this interview. It really made me think differently about Michael Vick. I really truly believe he is doing an amazing job of redeeming his self, and that he truly wants to do the right thing to make up for his past wrongs. Lemme know what you think?
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/19/138519970/michael-vick-discusses-animal-rights-bill
Rank 1 Jameson's Score 99%
Rank 2 hobo beans Score 1%
What? I'm living in America right now, aren't I?
#1 Public Library
#2 Public Parks
#3 US Post office
#4 Target
#5 Lowes
It certainly wouldn't include Olive Garden, they are worth boycotting just for their bad food, let alone how much money the spend advertising on Fox.
Think Progress found a whip count of 267 house members that will vote for a "Clean dept ceiling bill"
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/07/29/282539/213-votes-debt-hike/
Republicans are listed here
:)
Awesome?
I'm so proud of Apple up there. I did think, however, that it was going to be a little higher on the list.. and where's our cliché Starbucks and Toyota Priusses?
Netflix FTW
Did anyone else notice that NOTHING remotely computer-oriented made the Republican Top 10? Not Amazon. Not Google. Not Apple. Not even Netflix. I spent over 20 years in marketing research and THAT intrigues me.
Good point, Carolinalady.
What? Ford is on the Dems list and not Subaru? I thought Subaru was like the official car maker to progressives? Someone must have surveyed Texas or something.
I was really surprised that the group that watches Fox NEWS also watches the Discovery Channel and The History Channel. Mine would have Google, Amazon, MR. GOODCENTS (not subway) and REDBOX..but then they apparently were not among the choices - so flawed results.
What seems very significant is the lack of Internet brand awareness (Amazon, Netflix) with republicans.
I'm amused that Lowe's is on two lists but Home
DespotDepot is not on any.Obviously Republicans haven't paid much attention when watching the History channel, but Fox writes its own version!
Someone want to follow up and find out just how closely the Republicans' list corresponds to Fox advertisers?
right!? i was just wondering if a lion's share of olive garden advertising dollars are spent on Fox...because seriously, i can't believe people would make an informed decision to eat there...
I am more surprised the Repubs love the history channel, but they support people like Palin and Bachmann. They must only watch the shows like Swamp People and Larry the Cable Guy.
chap
Don't forget Ice Road Truckers.
mmm, subway
So repubs like to educate themselves and stay on top of current events, but dems only care about spending money!
Well, you could argue that with Google, Amazon, and YouTube, Democrats are paying attention to society/current events and proactively educating themselves through independent research and general inquisitiveness, while Republicans are largely being spoonfed what a handful of television networks feed them. But honestly, even I find that a bit reductive. This data is amusing but ultimately inconclusive.
Cheerios does tell me "kids" though. And Apple tells me "technologically informed". :)
You say that like it's a bad thing...spending money is good for the economy! And I think that Democrats are reasonably intelligent people, which is why FOX news is no where on their list, since that news channel does not promote independent thought in any way.
I think you need to break down what they watch on the Discovery channel and the History channel. I watch both but I'm betting the shows are different. Prefer actual History over reality shows.
I'm with Boltgirl on #1 being Jameson's, in this day and age most people need a good stiff drink!
I'm a progressive liberal and I love Olive Garden (and detest Subway). Does it mean I have to turn in my membership card now? ;-)
Yup, at least if your from North East.
I took part in this survey and I should point out that the questions aren't open-ended; you're presented with a list of about 30 brands and asked "Which [ones] have you heard anything positive about in the last two(?) weeks," and the same with "negative" for the same list of brands. So they've done preselection before the poll is taken. Also, they ask if you're Dem, GOP, or Indy only. I'm registered Oregon Progressive Party, so I choose Indy. Everyone assumes Indy is in the middle, but I'm to the left of Dems.
For a group of ppl who have History Channel ranked so high how is it they seem to forget the past so easily??
Because the History Channel isn't about history. They have shows like Swamp People, which is about huntin down rogue gators, Pawn Stars, which is about giys that run Pawn shops and the people who sell stuff to them, and Ancient Aliens, which is about...wait for it... extraterrestrial aliens influencing our ancestors. Now can you see why Republicans love it so?
Don't forget planes dropping bombs artillery firing and aircraft carriers. (ok i like that stuff to :)
How can you be down on Olive Garden and love Subway? Gross! At least Olive Garden has food you can keep down!
So what I get from this is that one group is entertaining themselves with google, amazon, Netflix and Apple and the other is working ( Lowe's) and getting educated ( History and Discovery channel). Totally opposite of what I expected.
My interpretation of the original question is "have you *heard* about this brand lately", not "have you *patronized* this brand lately". As such, I take the results to mean "this group of people seems to frequent the kind of places whose *advertising* includes much of {the brands in the results}".
Also, with regard to History and Discovery, they are now catering more to the "reality TV" crowd as compared to five years ago, aren't they?