The BrandXpress Blog has a post on the top 10 brands for 2005—as far as American teens are concerned, surveyed by Energy/BBDO. And it differs from the lists from the Medinge Group, brand experts at Brandchannel, and the Landor end-of-year survey I’ve covered.
   Sony is tops, followed by Nokia and Adidas. These do not really surprise me: each has made an effort to lead in their fields, and Adidas seems to come off with less “hard sell” than Nike. My theory is that that turns modern teenagers off, but the fact Nike came fourth frustrates that. However, some BBDO folks actually agree with me—which is good, as my theory comes from my own, earlier Gen Y research, which I hoped would have some similarities to research on today’s teens.
   A big surprise is Nestlé’s showing in fifth. Once upon a time, young people protested against and banned this brand for the poisoned baby fiasco. But it seems that hatred does not get passed on from generation to generation.
   Cadbury, Coca-Cola, M&Ms and Kodak—the last is hardly a youth brand in my book—round out the top 10.
   There’s no Apple or iPod here.
   Also insightful were the changes since 1995. Back then, Coke led, and Nokia was not to be seen. Pepsi was fifth but it has since fallen into being unfashionable—no more multi-million-dollar campaigns helmed by Michael Jackson. Colgate, Disney and Reebok were present.
   These surveys are perhaps useful from the point of view of figuring out what has youth appeal. Innovation, marketing sophistication and even the impression of wholesome values seems to have helped the 2005 top 10, lessons to bear in mind when this group becomes even more affluent in a few years’ time. The old ways, put simply, do not work—something many marketing and branding authors have been saying for many, many years. Of course, that’s too hard for the establishment to accept, holding on to their copies of post-war marketing books.

Del.icio.us tags: branding | brands | teenagers | teen | marketing Posted by Jack Yan, 05:54  permalink

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