Most popular brands during COVID-19, according to MBLM brand intimacy report
Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi break down how brands have been resonating with consumers amid COVID-19 with Mario Naterelli, MBLM Managing Director.
Video Transcript
BRIAN SOZZI: During these unprecedented times, consumers have flocked to brands in unprecedented ways. In fact, a new study by Emblem shows that consumers' emotional connection with brands have gone up 23% during COVID-19, with Apple, Amazon, and Google leading the way. Joining us now to discuss is Emblem Managing Partner Mario Natarelli. Mario, good to see you this morning here. So brand intimacy, what is it and who has it right now?
MARIO NATARELLI: Yeah. Brand intimacy is the emotional connection that we have with the brands that we use and love. Think about how you feel about brands, this is a study that measures that feeling. It's something we've been working on for the last 10 years. We've seen lots of movement of brands up and down. And as you said, Apple has overtaken Amazon this year, which is a surprise post-COVID, given how much deliveries and the role that Amazon plays in our life during our quarantine plague.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Mario, it looks like Zoom, a pretty popular brand with people during this pandemic. Most of the people who said that probably didn't even know what Zoom was a few months ago.
MARIO NATARELLI: It's become a verb, right? There have been a couple of brands that have surprised us-- Purell and Zoom. And also, Tesla now is moving up in the rankings for the first time. So there's always surprises. But we decided that we would run the study again after COVID to see what the world looked like and which brands were doing better or responding better, and Zoom definitely is at the top of that list.
BRIAN SOZZI: What does it mean for the companies that received much love by their owners? The first thing I thought when reading this, wow, pricing power. Purell really an all-star this year during the pandemic. You know what, I'll pay another $5 for a bottle. I don't care.
MARIO NATARELLI: Yeah. It turns out that when we measure which brands you are willing to pay 20% more for, Purell is now the top brand. In the past, that was Rolex. And economic impact is one of the things. What we've learned is the more intimate you are with brands, the more you're willing to pay, the less you're willing to live without them. And when we measure the performance of these companies against the top brands in the Fortune 500 and the top brands in Standard and Poor's index, and in the brands outperform them in revenue, in profit, and in longevity. So this isn't just something that sounds good, it actually makes business impact.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Were there any brands that maybe just fell off the radar during the survey being taken during the pandemic that might have surprised you?
MARIO NATARELLI: Well, there are industries that are cratering around us, right? If you think about airlines or hospitality-- you guys had Danny Meyer on earlier talking about restaurant brands. I would imagine that the bonds that are formed with those customers are in dire shape, and we're hoping that those industries rebound. Those are some of the examples of brands that have not fared well in the study.
BRIAN SOZZI: Why do you think Tesla climbed onto the list, Mario? Is it just as simple as that, that we're all driving around on the weekends to the local park in our Teslas and we enjoy the experience?
MARIO NATARELLI: Well, one of the things that's important about this study is that you have to be a user of the brand. This isn't really what you think about know Elon Musk or whether you think Teslas are cool or they look great. You have to be a user to count in the study. And why I think Tesla is now becoming more prevalent in the rankings is with the release of the Model 3, you're getting more of the general population having cars that are Teslas and being able to be counted in the study. And I just think that over time, the more that they make, the more prevalent the brand becomes, the more successful it will be. And people love their Teslas.
