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Sony
Tops the List in Inaugural "Best Brands" Survey of Britons
London, UK —7 October,
2003—Britons have
picked Sony as their nation’s best brand. The electronics maker came in first
in the inaugural HI Europe Poll conducted recently among 4,098 Britons (aged
15+). Heinz, Marks and Spencer, Kellogg’s, Tesco, Flora,
Coca-Cola, Boots, Nestlé, and Cadbury rounded out the top
ten.
Across the Atlantic, Americans also picked Sony as their nation’s best brand in
a poll conducted earlier this year by Harris Interactive, parent company of HI
Europe. Only Kellogg’s and Coca-Cola
were able to join Sony on the British and U.S. top ten lists. The differences between these lists, rather
than the similarities, suggest that there is no shortage of challenges facing
brands that aspire to rank highly on both sides of the Atlantic:
- Huge, global fast moving
consumer goods brands such as Kraft, Procter & Gamble, and Pepsi-Cola
made little to no impression on Britons despite ranking among America’s
ten best brands.
- Great Britain’s top ten list
included no automotive companies while America’s list included Ford and
General Motors.
- In Great Britain, nationwide
retail brands were far stronger than in the U.S., and retail shops such as
Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Boots received high marks. Retail brands were
altogether absent from America’s top-ten list.
- Cadbury and Nestlé ranked among Great Britain’s best brands but received
nary a mention from Americans.
“Nationwide retail brands are remarkably strong in Great
Britain whereas automobile brands are remarkably strong in America,” stated
George Terhanian, President of HI Europe.
“A crude implication is that Britons place more value than Americans on
where they shop and less value on the car they might drive to the shop. Britons also seem to truly appreciate their
chocolate.”
Marek Vaygelt, Managing Director of Operations for HI
Europe, added, “Great Britain has a much longer tradition of nationwide retail
than the US. There is virtually no town without a Marks and Spencer, Boots and
Tesco. This may help to explain the difference in retail brand presence between
US and Great Britain top-ten lists.”
The HI Europe Poll also asked Britons to rate the importance
of the corporate reputation of those brands they deemed best, with Rolls Royce,
Mercedes-Benz, Dell, and BMW receiving the highest marks.
“Companies should pay heed--corporate reputation is too
important to ignore in the post-Enron era, particularly when consumers are
asked to spend their hard-earned pounds,” Terhanian stated.
TABLE 1*
TOP
10 BRANDS
“We would like you to think about
brands or names of products and services you know. Considering everything,
which three brands do you consider the best?”
Base:
(See methodology statements below for US and UK surveys)
|
UNITED STATES
|
|
GREAT BRITAIN
|
1
|
Sony
|
|
Sony
|
2
|
Kraft
|
|
Heinz
|
3
|
Dell
|
|
Marks and Spencer
|
4
|
General
Motors
|
|
Kellogg’s
|
5
|
Microsoft
|
|
Tesco
|
6
|
Ford
|
|
Flora
|
7
|
Coca-Cola
|
|
Coca-Cola
|
8
|
Procter
& Gamble
|
|
Boots
|
9
|
Kellogg’s
|
|
Nestlé
|
=10
|
General
Electric
|
|
Cadbury
|
=10
|
Pepsi-Cola
|
|
-
|
*NOTE: These are spontaneous replies. Respondents
are not read or shown a list of
names.
TABLE 2
IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE REPUTATION IN
CHOOSING “TOP BRANDS”
“When you think about why (BRAND
MENTIONED AS TOP BRAND) is a top brand, how important is the reputation of the
company and what you know about the company that makes that product or provides
that service?”
Those Saying “Extremely
Important”
Base: Britons aged 15 and over
|
Extremely
Important%
|
Rolls Royce
|
41
|
Mercedes-Benz
|
39
|
Dell
|
38
|
BMW
|
31
|
Marks and Spencer
|
31
|
Cadbury
|
29
|
Kodak
|
29
|
Virgin
|
27
|
Benecol
|
26
|
Nike
|
25
|
Methodology for HI Europe Poll
This HI Europe survey was conducted online within Great
Britain between July 29th and August 16th, 2003 among 4,098 Britons,
aged 15 and older. Figures for age, sex, race, education, income and region
were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual
proportions in the population. "Propensity score" weighting was also
used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could
say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of
plus or minus 1.5 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population
had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other
possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more
serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals
to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, and
weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these
factors. This online sample is not a probability sample.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the
US National Council on Public Polls.
Methodology for US Poll
The
Harris Poll®was conducted online within the United States between
June 16 and 22, 2003, among a nationwide cross section of 879 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education and
number of adults in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them
into line with their actual proportions in the population. "Propensity score" weighting was
also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
In theory,
with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty
that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus four percentage
points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled
with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources
of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than
theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be
interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, interviewer
bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely
voters). It is impossible to quantify
the errors that may result from these factors.
This online survey is not a probability sample.
These statements
conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public
Polls.
About HI
Europe
HI Europe (www.hieurope.com)is a market
research and consulting firm known for its expertise in strategic business and
consumer research, particularly in the IT and telecom industries. HI Europe
plays a major role in solving its clients' complex business problems through
thoughtful application of innovative methodologies and sophisticated
technologies, focusing on those that areInternet-based. Headquartered in London, HI Europe is
a subsidiary of US-based Harris Interactive®, one of the world’s
largest market research companies, known for its pioneering use of the Internet
to conduct scientifically accurate market research.
Press Contacts:
Carole Holland
HI Europe
+44 (0) 20-8263-5268
cholland@hieurope.com
Nancy Wong
Harris Interactive
USA 585-214-7316
nwong@harrisinteractive.com
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