Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business. You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy.

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Survey reveals most patriotic brands in America

Pandemic, Politics & Protests are changing Patriotism

"The coronavirus pandemic has changed consumers' lives and their definition of what patriotism means when it comes to brands," said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, the New York-based brand engagement and customer loyalty research consultancy (brandkeys.com) that conducts the annual survey. "Brands compete, and are now judged, within three frameworks related to patriotism: category, socio-political, and therapeutic."

The 50 Most Patriotic Brands
A national sample of 5,370 consumers, 18 to 65 years of age, balanced for gender and political affiliation were drawn from the nine US. Census Regions. Consumers assessed brands as to their resonance for the single value of "patriotism".

The following 50 brands were identified as best meeting the challenge patriotism now plays in a more political and pandemically-complex marketplace. Numbers in parentheses indicate a brand's movement up or down the rankings from 2019. Brands new to the top 50 are so indicated.

1. Jeep (---)
2. Amazon (+10)
3. Walmart (+6)
4. American Express / MSNBC (+2)
5. Clorox / Netflix (new, new)
6. Disney / Levi Strauss (-4, -1)
7. Ford / The New York Times (-4, +1)
8. FOX News (+2)
9. Hershey's / Purell (-2, new)
10. Coca Cola / The Washington Post (-6, +6)
11. Coors / USAA (+3, new)
12. AT&T / T-Mobile / Verizon (-5, new, new)
13. Apple / Domino's / Zoom (+4, new, new)
14. Jack Daniels / Ralph Lauren (-3)
15. Twitter (-3)
16. Progressive Insurance / Sam Adams (new, +2)
17. Dunkin' / KFC / Pepsi (-4, -3, -3)
18. Google (+8)
19. Colgate / Gatorade (+3, +7)
20. 7th Generation (+7)
21. GEICO / Old Navy (new, ---)
22. Kellogg's (-2)
23. Nike / Wrangler (---, +4)
24. Craftsmen Tools (-2)
25. Allstate / Farmers (new, new)
26. Home Depot (new)
27. Chick-fil-A / McDonald's (-12, -12)
28. New Balance (---)
29. Campbell's Soup (new)
30. Starbuck's (-5)

"Political polarization, growing consumer tribalism, and national social protests have challenged brands this year. Not only have basic tenets of consumer loyalty and brand engagement been upended, as has the need for how brands define themselves in the context of patriotism," said Passikoff.

Sports Brands Strike Out
"Brands - particularly those related to sports - were bumped from the top 50 where they had customarily appeared," noted Passikoff. "In a Covid-enforced absence, teams and sporting goods brands have been replaced by brands consumers deem supportive during a national crisis."

Those included insurance companies like Allstate, Farmers, and GEICO, brands seen to assist consumer connection like T-Mobile, Verizon, and Zoom, and brands related to cleaning and sanitizing like Clorox and Purell.

Consumer Cohorts Get More Patriotic
Respondents were again asked to rate themselves on a one-to-five scale (#1 = Not at all patriotic, #5 = Extremely patriotic) with patriotic self-perceptions increasing across all age groups Y-O-Y. Top two-box ratings ("Extremely" or "Very" Patriotic), consistent across genders within the individual age cohorts, appear below (#s in parentheses indicate changes from 2019).

• Traditionalists 94% (+3)
• Baby Boomers 92% (+2)
• Gen X 82% (+8)
• Millennials 85% (+15)
• Gen Z 59% (+9)

This year, for the first time, differences in patriotic self-perceptions based on political affiliations appeared:

• Democrats 93%
• Independents 95%
• Republicans 88%
• US Armed Services - Always #1

The Brand Keys annual survey focuses on for-profit brands, but assessments for the armed services - Coast Guard, Air Force, Army, Marines, and Navy - are included. "This year consumers of all ages and political persuasions again awarded the armed services a patriotic ranking of #1," said Passikoff. "We recognize them and thank them all for their service."

13 New Patriotic Challengers
Thirteen new brands appeared on this year's patriotism list, comprising 26% of the top 50 brands. These include: Allstate, Campbells Soup, Clorox, Dominos, Farmers, GEICO, Home Depot, Netflix, Progressive, Purell, T-Mobile, USAA, Verizon, and Zoom.

Eight brands showed the largest movement on the rankings, including: Amazon (+10), Google (+8), 7th Generation, Gatorade (+7 each), Apple, Coca Cola, Walmart, and The Washington Post (+6 each).

Patriotism Pays Off Emotionally
"Where a brand can establish an emotional connection with consumers with a value as powerful as 'patriotism,' it guarantees consumers will engage more strongly and behave more-positively toward the brand," said Passikoff. "In most cases six times more."

"These brand rankings do not mean that other brands are not patriotic. Immediate needs have changed the patriotic paradigm and sheltering-in has affected both people and brands. Long-established categories have had to make room for brands seen as being more supportive and, thus, more patriotic," said Passikoff. "Politics, the pandemic, and protests are having greater effects on the brandscape than ever before; socially, politically, palliatively, and patriotically."

Brands that can make emotional connections always have strategic and emotional advantages when it comes to winning the hearts, minds, and loyalty of consumers. "If you do that consumers don't just stand up and salute, they stand up and buy,"observed Passikoff.

Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business.

You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy. Grab this goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, technologies, research, suppliers and partners, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid CX strategy.

While most marketers could list maybe a dozen key points for improving their brand's Customer Experience (CX), the researchers and writers at The Marketing Factbook have identified FORTY main 'CX Keys' which will help you drive your customers to new levels of delight, loyalty, advocacy and profitability.

The areas in which customers have direct contact with your organization are perhaps the most obvious places in which CX improvements can be made, and this report addresses all 24 of these 'Direct CX Keys', applicable to offline and online businesses alike.

At the same time there are many other areas that indirectly affect CX (such as the supply chain, policies and processes) in which every business can make simple but far-reaching improvements. This report guides you through the problems and solutions for all 16 of these 'Indirect CX Keys', many of which are often forgotten or under-played even in the best CX strategies.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)