2010 Coolest & Gaps Branding Survey - English

101130_CGBS_Results_EN.doc 1/16

Contents

Contents ..................................................................................................................1

Introduction..............................................................................................................2

Executive summary ...................................................................................................4

The coolest brands ....................................................................................................5

The “gaps” ............................................................................................................. 10

Final thoughts......................................................................................................... 13

About the survey..................................................................................................... 15


Introduction

During the first two weeks of November 2010 the “Coolest & Gaps” survey was carried out for the third consecutive year.

More than 4,200 responses were received from 28 different countries:

• Over 90% of the brands were proposed by professionals who work in functions directly related to that brand

• Over 80% of the responses were given by people aged between 25 and 50. • 80% of the responses came from only 12 countries: Spain, the United Kingdom, USA,

Holland, Brazil, Germany, Norway, Argentina, India, Canada, Italy and France • Close to 80% of the respondents work in 10 sectors of the economy: communication,

consumer market, education, professional services, construction, petrol and energy, healthcare, financial services, technology and tourism

• 50% of respondents either hold managerial positions and/or own businesses

This survey sought to determine two things:

• Which is the coolest brand experience? • What and how is the difference between cool experiences and those that promote the

brand of the company/institution where the daily work is carried out by each of the participants?

To answer both questions and after taking into account observations made in previous years we defined what is meant by brand experience and what is meant by cool:

• What is a brand experience?

o A brand experience is what we experience from the moment we want a product/service until we repeat

o It is the whole of what the brand says to me, its communication, the product and the services that accompany it, the value I give it, its availability... the possibility of establishing a dialogue

• What is a cool experience?

o Products and/or services can be cool by virtue of seeing a necessity or prevalence in the life of a person; it is able to anticipate that and surprise, and continue to surprise, as do, for some people, Google or Amazon

It was also requested that, as far as possible, respondents answer using top brands that were recognised at a global level. This could be seen in the results which, unlike previous years, showed a higher concentration of suggested brands. There were a total of 114 valid brands proposed.


Unaided awareness and brand experience

The most important aspect of this survey could possibly be that the question of the coolest brand was left open; there are no predefined brands to be voted on.

The reason it is continued to be done this way is because the brand's unaided awareness speaks about the experience one has with a determined brand, while aided awareness makes the person remember aspects related to the brand communication, especially those associated with audiovisual advertising.

Once the person proposes their cool brand, the following questions will add the rational aspects that make the decision, decryption and way to live the aforementioned experience. Subjects included are:

• Brand, as a synthesis of what the company promises • Communication, understood as advertising related events, PR, merchandising, etc. • Availability of product/service when the experience is to be lived • Taylor made, in that the experience is unique and personalised • Interactivity, recognising the potential for dialogue with the brand that online use

offers, especially web 2.0 • The place which offers the product/service as a real space which breathes and transmits

the values of the brand • Related services such as customer services, complaint systems, guarantees, etc... • Usefulness of the product/service as a way to assign value to the offer that goes

beyond price • That both the product and the company that offers it have a respect for the

environment (eco-friendly) • Social responsibility understood as visible and obvious actions that make the company

in its relationship with society

These subjects are then ranked by the person for their company


Executive summary

The 10 top hits of the “2010 Coolest & Gaps Branding Survey”

1. The first five spontaneously suggested brands are: Apple, Coca-Cola, Google, Nespresso and Facebook

2. Apple is the most recognised brand, in general, by country and economic sector where respondents carry out their activities

3. Amongst the top 20 brands, five of them can only be found online. Google, Facebook, Amazon, LinkedIn and Twitter

4. Two Spanish brands can be found in the Top 20: Vueling and Desigual

5. Luxury is no longer present in cool brands; their referential status is achieved by other means

6. Despite being cool brands, people admit that they should visibly work on issues of sustainability and social responsibility.

7. The most obvious difference between cool brands and places where people work are related to what the brand promises, the communication and the relationship between the internal and external audience while they are living the experience

8. Those working in the sector related to the brand are more critical when classifying the experience that their company proposes

9. Almost 50% of participants believe that their company does not adequately live the values the brand transmits

10. The study shows that it is still necessary to recognise that a brand experience is a business issue that requires further strategic thinking


The coolest brands

For the third consecutive year, Apple has been voted the coolest brand at a global level However, this year there are additional elements that give even more weight to this choice:

• Apple was the brand most often mentioned in each and every one of the countries from which the responses were obtained

• In absolute numbers it received more votes than previous years, although it didn't double the amount of the second choice, Coca Cola

At a national level, it is worth noting that the participation of Spain has grown significantly, compared to previous years, representing 15% of the responses. This means that, amongst the most popular, two Spanish brands appear in the Top 20; Vueling and Desigual.

The chosen coolest brands in 2010 are:

1 Apple2 Coca-Cola3 Google4 Nespresso5 Facebook6 Diesel7 Virgin 8 Amazon9 H&M10 Heineken11 BlackBerry

12 GAP

13 LinkedIn

14 Nike

15 Nintendo

16 Twitter

17 Levi's

18 Vueling

19 Adidas

20 Desigual


Of the 114 brands mentioned, these top 20 represent 60% of the responses:

• The Top 40 brands account for 75% of those mentioned • The Top 60 brands make up 90% of those mentioned

The following 20 brands, which have between 41 and 67 mentions, are:

• More than 50 mentions: Camper, Swatch, The North Face, Target, YouTube, Hugo Boss, Sony, Jaguar, La Martina, Ben & Jerry's, D&G, Stella McCartney

• More than 40 mentions: HP, Hyundai, Audi, Starbucks, BMW, Kia, Leica, Patagonia

Those that follow, up until the Top 60 recognised brands are: Samsung, TopShop, Toyota, Xbox, Pony, Ferrari, Harley-Davidson, McDonald's, Zara, Bourjois, Burberry, Burguer King, FC Barcelona, FedEx, Havanna, Madonna, Red Bull, Boheme - Luigi Bosca, Sephora and El Corte Inglés.

The coolest brands by country

There are differences by country, except in regards to Apple which, as previously mentioned, is present and is the brand that has the largest number of individual mentions.

The presence of local brands can also be seen and they serve as a reference to those who have participated from those parts.

Spain Argentina USA Brazil UKAmazon Apple Apple Adidas AmazonApple Boheme, Luigi Bosca Coca-Cola Apple AppleBlackBerry Coca-Cola Google Azul Linhas Aéreas LinkedInCoca-Cola Diesel Nike Burberry MadonnaDesigual Ferrari Patagonia Google VuelingFacebook Google The North Face H&MH&M Havanna Virgin HyundaiLinkedIn La Martina You TubeNespresso Levi'sNintendo Nike The NetherlandsStarbucks Pony AppleTopShop Revlon HeinekenTwitter Starbucks LeicaVueling The North Face VolkswagenZara Virgin

Germany India France Norway CanadaApple Apple Apple Amazon AppleRed Bull Peter England Carrefour Apple MethodStella McCartney Zara Coca-Cola

Chart 1 - Brands by country - Alphabetic

For other countries, the individual results are limited and are useful at a general level, they do not ensure the relevance of the mentioned brand experiences.


The coolest brands by sector

As has been done in the by country section, the industries with more participation have been considered and the brands with a high number of entries. Also by sector, it shows that Apple is the brand which has the highest number of individual mentions.

Communication FMCG Education Professional Services Construction

Adidas Apple Apple Apple AmazonAmazon Burberry Coca-Cola Ben & Jerry's AppleApple Coca-Cola Google Coca-ColaCoca-Cola Target Nespresso DesigualGoogle The North Face Starbucks DieselH&M La MartinaHarley-Davidson LinkedInHeineken PonyLeica VuelingMethod You Tube

Energy Health Financial Institutions Technology Turism

Apple Amazon Apple Apple AppleCoca-Cola Apple Google LinkedIn BMWFerrari Levi's McDonald's DellNespresso Virgin Nespresso Virgin

Off Limits VuelingSamsungSephoraSony

Chart 2 - Brands by industry - Alphabetic

About the coolest brands

This year, several interesting facts can be seen:

• Among the brands mentioned, offline and online experiences are mixed • Some brands have fewer entries that in previous years due to indirect competitors • Being cool provides a new understanding of luxury and status • Cool brands are believed in, which does not imply being loyal to

If in the ‘90s the distinction was between the real world and the virtual world, this century we have begun to consider that these experiences are real, both offline and online. One might expect that in the coming years, this division will start to lose meaning. In any case, the message is that those experiences worth having, have both an offline and online presence, and the ability to interact with the brand is highly valued.

Perhaps the most obvious case of loss of relevance this year is that of Starbucks. The lowest number of mentions it received is equivalent to those Nespresso received. The experience of having an ‘extension’ of our homes to enjoy coffee has changed to that of ‘enjoying’ a good coffee at home. This takes on more weight as it seems that in countries where Starbucks was more entrenched is where it has lost more dominance. Likewise, the emergence of Nespresso has also influenced the low presence of other brands such as Illy.


A cool experience helps people's referential status and moves away from the traditional idea of luxury. Something luxurious is not necessarily cool. A good example of this is the appearance in the automotive sectors of brands such as Hyundai or Kia, which are at the same levels of BMW and Audi. This is possibly because of the effect of a change of paradigm where:

• It's not about owning a car, but about living the experience • What is important is the flexibility over the object that it allows • If the buying process has an emotional trigger the decision process is more rational

8,3 8,2

7,3 7,16,7

6,56,2 6,2

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Chart 3 - Assessment of the cool experience

Finally, people recognise that they "believe in" brands even though that is far from making them "loyal" to these brands. Whether it is because of image distortions and/or more information, at the moment of ranking the experiences there is more honesty, in any case it highlights areas where companies should work on in-depth and professionally.

The results show:

• Cool experiences are not a "10" anymore, nor do they deserve it. • The fact that the brand transmits a promise is recognised, it is useful and it

communicates adequately • Strategies based on "limited resources" are beginning to be disliked and/or make

people choose other brands • There still remain those who are in contact with customers and consumers who live the

values that the brand promises in an observable and measureable way • There is an implicit requirement for an increased desire for interactivity with brands.

Along with the desire of experiences that are ‘more personal’, this could be understood as a need to look into corporate social networking further than just a presence in general networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

• The issues of sustainability and social responsibility remain on the "to do" list. Again, it is not what they say they do, but what they are actually doing.


Some comments from the participants

• Apple Rocks! • Its “Time to market” is perfect • It’s something unlike anything else, which leaves a mark and will continue to do so on

the customer-company experience, and the relationships between people • It is, by far, the manufacturer of large-scale computers most concerned about the

environment on a global scale. They are socially responsible, at the cutting edge and innovative

• They understand that it is all about the experience to be lived • Trends, alternative, subcultural, unique • This brand was able to attract more youths than the iPhone, taking into account that as

a design, it’s boring


The “gaps”

Interestingly, the things the respondents mostly recognized in "cool" brands were the greatest shortcomings that mark their own businesses.

On this point, it appears that there is a strong need to work and / or continue working on:

• Positioning and brand architecture:

o Either the brands are promising less than what they are or they overpromise and this makes them not credible

o Communication has little effect, possibly because their levels of interaction (which is then pointed out) is minimal and/or inadequate

o In any case, it would be a subject for further planning and premeditation

• Location, availability and service:

o These aspects have a strong negative bias related to people inside and out of the system

o This will be easier to understand when the response to how the values of the brand are lived in-house in companies is seen

On the other hand, people are beginning to recognise that their companies are more aware of offering tailor-made solutions to their customers In this case it should be noted that amongst the mix of participants, the service industry is a heavy weight and that will affect the results of this specific question.

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Chart 4 - "Gaps" in regards to relevant brands


Finally it is noted that issues related to sustainability and social responsibility continue to grow in importance, however, they are still below cool brands, which is to say that they are issues on which further work is required.

"Gaps" for people who are involved in branding and those who aren't

It is interesting to see where the biggest differences are, regarding what a brand experience is, between people who work in areas related to brands and those who don't.

In general, those working in related areas are more critical when assessing their brand experiences

Availability

Place

Brand

Communication

Related Services

Product/Service Usability

Respect for the environment

Interactivity

Tailormade

Social responsibility

Related Unrelated

Chart 5 - Differences between those related and not related to branding

That said, the vision that the brand promises, the communication, related services and the availability of the product are assessed consistently and with a low spread of results.

By contrast, in the areas of sustainability, reputation, relationships with audiences (interactivity) and the ability to provide personalised solutions; internal public not related to the brand are more lenient with their marking.

In all cases, it is maintained that relationships with external audiences are far from what is desired.


The internal brand experience

While half of the participants have a positive view on how brand values in their businesses are lived, the other half thought otherwise.

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38%

22%

29%

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NoNeither good, nor badGoodExcelent

Chart 6 - Live the brand in-house

Looking at the results in detail it can be seen that:

• One in 10 people work in a business where brand values are not lived • Seven in 10 people recognise that something must be done so that brand values are

lived, are observed and measured • Three of every 10 people live brand values explicitly

o 5% of these people voted their own company as a cool brand o The vast majority occupy management positions in those companies


Final thoughts

Paying attention to the proposed brands, several thoughts about the way people recognise brand experiences come up, and in many cases they are far from what was assumed.

One idea that can be drawn from this study is that cool brands are understood and are well on the path to building a reputation.

Extent

Depth

UnderstandingReputationRelevance

Time

Range• Points of contact

of the brand experience

Coverage• Level of intake for

the brand experience

Filtering• Inability of

messages to get through

Recognition• Ability to arrive,

without implying a preference

Belief• Functional and

emotional preference for the proposed value

Consumer motivator• Association level

to the proposed value

Relevance• The ability to

reduce uncertainty

Enforceability• Ability of the

brand experience to lead their audience to action

Another observation is that luxury goods, with some exceptions, are no longer considered cool. This gives greater weight to trends over more rational shopping processes and that the flow of the experience is more important than possessing the product in order to live it

Private thoughts

The presence of online experience continues to grow, especially those generated by general social networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.

It is more important to be connected than the person who provides the service that makes being connected possible. While brands such as Apple, BlackBerry, Nintendo or Sony are mentioned, there is no mention of telecommunication companies.

The automotive sector has opened the door to massive car manufacturers such as Hyundai, Kia and Toyota, compared with Jaguar, Audi, BMW and Ferrari (one of the few exceptions in luxury goods).


The clothing industry can be divided into three main areas:

• Masstige with brands such as Stella McCartney, Hugo Boss, D&G, La Martina or Desigual

• Mass with brands such as Target, GAP, H&M, TopShop or Zara • Sports associated with recreational activities

o Performance bias: Nike, Patagonia, The North Face o Urban bias: Adidas, Pony

Airlines are beginning to be understood by experience rather than the ticket cost. Hence, these brands offer "something more than just flying": Virgin, Vueling, Azul Linhas Aereas

Beverages, hot or cold, ready to drink or not, are few: Coca-Cola, Heineken and Nespresso.

The only sports club mentioned as a cool brand is FC Barcelona, even, as in the case of Vueling, beyond its borders.

Financial institutions, considered one of the industries that most works on their brand image, have only received a few scattered references.

Specific thought on "gaps"

While there is an evolution on how brands are considered, the most important idea that comes from the study is that further work is needed:

• Consider that the brand experience is a matter of business (institutional) as it is limited only to questions of aesthetics and / or fashion, or that it is an issue related to communication

• Build a brand strategy that, together with vision and a mission, make the promise made to audiences key for the company, regardless of whether these are external or internal

• Convert into brand evangelists those people (employees and subcontractors who are viewed by customers as part of the company) who are present "in the moment of truth"; i.e. when there is contact between external and internal company audiences.

• Recognise that people want to interact with brands and that this is not just a fad that happens with no intentional strategy in social networks


About the survey

The survey was conducted online from the 01.11.10 to the 15.11.10 inclusive.

ParticipantsOK 4.212Deleted 13

Branding related areas 93%

By economic sector %1 Professional Services 23%2 Communications 18%3 Technology 8%4 Education 5%5 FMCG 4%6 Health 3%7 Turism 2%8 Financial Services 2% 65%

By Country

1 Spain 15% 624

2 United Kingdom 9% 390

3 United States of America 9% 371

4 Netherlands 8% 325

5 Brazil 6% 261

6 Germany 6% 234

7 Norway 6% 234

8 Argentina 5% 215

9 India 5% 203

10 Canada 5% 195

11 Italy 4% 161

12 France 4% 80% 156

13 Mexico 3% 117

14 Venezuela 2% 93

15 Finland 2% 80

16 New Zealand 2% 79

17 Belgium 2% 78

18 Australia 1% 4219 Chile 1% 4120 Colombia 1% 4021 Denmark 1% 3922 Ecuador 1% 3923 Peru 1% 3924 Puerto Rico 1% 3525 Romania 1% 3426 Switzerland 1% 3227 Ukraine 1% 2928 Uruguay 1% 26

By responsibilityManagerial + Owners 50% 2.106Academics 5% 217

By ageUp to 25 6% 26326 to 35 30% 1.27035 to 50 51% 2.16851 onwards 12% 511


The brands mentioned and their rankings:

Ranking Brand Mentions % Ranking Brand Mentions %1 Apple 287 287 7% 58 Boheme - Luigi Bosca 12 4.052 96%2 Coca-Cola 171 458 11% 59 Sephora 12 4.064 96%3 Google 160 618 15% 60 Corte Ingles 11 4.075 97%4 Nespresso 151 769 18% 61 Dell 11 4.086 97%5 Facebook 150 919 22% 62 Au pain quotidien 10 4.096 97%6 Diesel 130 1.049 25% 63 Axe 9 4.105 97%7 Virgin 128 1.177 28% 64 Off Limits 9 4.114 98%8 Amazon 123 1.300 31% 65 DMC 7 4.121 98%9 H&M 119 1.419 34% 66 El Toro de Osborne 6 4.127 98%

10 Heineken 104 1.523 36% 67 Ford 6 4.133 98%11 BlackBerry 103 1.626 39% 68 Fred Perry 5 4.138 98%12 GAP 99 1.725 41% 69 Lotus 5 4.143 98%13 LinkedIn 98 1.823 43% 70 Tiffany 5 4.148 98%14 Nike 97 1.920 46% 71 Volkswagen 5 4.153 99%

15 Nintendo 96 2.016 48% 72 Method 4 4.157 99%

16 Twitter 93 2.109 50% 73 Azul Linhas Aéreas 3 4.160 99%

17 Levi's 91 2.200 52% 74 BBVA 3 4.163 99%

18 Vueling 89 2.289 54% 75 Carolina Herrera 3 4.166 99%

19 Adidas 88 2.377 56% 76 Carrefour 3 4.169 99%

20 Desigual 81 2.458 58% 77 Kelme 2 4.171 99%

21 Camper 67 2.525 60% 78 Lacoste 2 4.173 99%

22 Swatch 67 2.592 62% 79 Ponoko 2 4.175 99%

23 The North Face 66 2.658 63% 80 Rolex 2 4.177 99%

24 Target 63 2.721 65% 81 Siemens 2 4.179 99%

25 You Tube 61 2.782 66% 82 Betfair 1 4.180 99%

26 Hugo Boss 60 2.842 67% 83 Bottega veneta 1 4.181 99%

27 Sony 60 2.902 69% 84 Bullfrog Power Canada 1 4.182 99%

28 Jaguar 59 2.961 70% 85 Burton 1 4.183 99%

29 La Martina 58 3.019 72% 86 Chipoltle 1 4.184 99%

30 Ben & Jerry's 54 3.073 73% 87 etsy 1 4.185 99%

31 D&G 53 3.126 74% 88 Faith & Fortune 1 4.186 99%

32 Stella McCartney 52 3.178 75% 89 Hakei 1 4.187 99%

33 HP 49 3.227 77% 90 Korres 1 4.188 99%

34 Hyundai 48 3.275 78% 91 Me 1 4.189 99%35 Audi 45 3.320 79% 92 miraval 1 4.190 99%36 Starbucks 45 3.365 80% 93 Miu Miu 1 4.191 100%37 BMW 44 3.409 81% 94 netflix 1 4.192 100%38 Kia 44 3.453 82% 95 NIXON 1 4.193 100%39 Leica 43 3.496 83% 96 NOS Energy Drink part of th 1 4.194 100%40 Patagonia 41 3.537 84% 97 OVA1 1 4.195 100%41 Samsung 40 3.577 85% 98 Peter England 1 4.196 100%42 TopShop 40 3.617 86% 99 Progressive Auto Insurance 1 4.197 100%43 Toyota 39 3.656 87% 100 Ray-Ban 1 4.198 100%44 Xbox 38 3.694 88% 101 Revlon 1 4.199 100%45 Pony 37 3.731 89% 102 Rickshaw Bags 1 4.200 100%46 Ferrari 36 3.767 89% 103 Sportsradio 1310 The Ticket 1 4.201 100%47 Harley-Davidson 36 3.803 90% 104 TERNUA 1 4.202 100%48 McDonald's 34 3.837 91% 105 The Motley Fool 1 4.203 100%49 Zara 33 3.870 92% 106 Trader Joe's 1 4.204 100%50 Bourjois 32 3.902 93% 107 Under Armour 1 4.205 100%51 Burberry 27 3.929 93% 108 Unicef 1 4.206 100%52 Burguer King 25 3.954 94% 109 Union Square Hospitality Gr 1 4.207 100%53 FC Barcelona 24 3.978 94% 110 Universal assistance 1 4.208 100%54 FedEx 17 3.995 95% 111 Vermillion sky 1 4.209 100%55 Havanna 17 4.012 95% 112 Whole Foods Market 1 4.210 100%56 Madonna 15 4.027 96% 113 www.thebigbulbplant.com 1 4.211 100%57 Red Bull 13 4.040 96% 114 Zipcar 1 4.212 100%

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2010 Coolest & Gaps Branding Survey - English