Technology companies ranked among the highest rated brands in a survey of consumers nationwide released this week.
The 2005 ImagePower Newsmaker Brands Survey, by branding and design consultancy Landor Associates, and research firm Penn, Schoen & Berland, was conducted earlier this month.
“This survey highlights the importance that brands play within many aspects of our lives, and reveals some interesting trends, such as the dominance of technology and Internet-based brands,” said Allen Adamson, managing director of
New York-based Landor Associates in a statement. “Companies that take a proactive approach to managing their brands are in a much better position to earn respect from their customers, as exemplified by the top-ranked brands on the list.”
The number one brand on Landor’s list is Apple’s iPod which edged out Google, Oprah Winfrey, eBay and the city of Las Vegas among the top five.
The top ten list included two other tech companies, Amazon.com (6) and Yahoo! (10). For 2006, however, Landor predicts Google will rise to the top spot while the iPod, facing increasing competitive threats, will drop to number five. (The term “DVR,” the “time-shifting” technology commonly associated with the popular TiVo system, was ranked as the eighth top brand).
Landor’s list of 20 “top decliners” among brands for 2005 included tech brands SBC/AT&T, Sprint/Nextel and and Sidekick, (a personal digital assistant sold by T-Mobile). All three also made the list of “predicted decliners” for 2006 joining Donald Trump, Howard Stern and the Hummer automobile among others.
The iRiver brand, a line of portable audio and video players, came in at number 20 on the list of decliners predicted for next year. In a testament to pre-release hype, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 came in as the 15th top-rated brand even though the video game system only shipped a few weeks ago.
Landor notes in its research that Google and iPod have reached the top of many lists in recent years, but said they stay there because of “the consistency in which they deliver their brand promise of simple, innovative technology.”
“People see themselves in the brands they choose, and this year technology brands have prevailed, with iPod and Google topping the list, and Xbox coming on strong,” Michael Berland, CEO of Penn, Shoen & Berland said in a statement. “People are in a mood to have fun — Las Vegas is the top city destination, and they’re turning away from confrontational reality shows like “Survivor” and “The Apprentice.”
