“Most-Patriotic” Brands are Icons

Not Always the Biggest or Have the Highest Awareness

According to Brand Keys Survey

Zippo, Smith & Wesson, Hershey’s and New Balance on the list

With the Fourth of July upon us, many marketers are ready to wrap their brands in the American flag. To find out which brands Americans feel are ‘most-patriotic’ Brand Keys, Inc., the New York-based brand and customer engagement research consultancy (www.brandkeys.com), surveyed 4,500 consumers about 197 brands in a variety of categories of product and services.

“Traditionally, regarding Independence Day, marketers operate on the theory that a patriotic call-to-emotion will motivate consumers to behave more positively toward their brands,” said Robert Passikoff, founder and president, Brand Keys.

Value Equals Patriotic

“Being value-based, in this case ‘patriotism’, has more to do with believability and emotional brand engagement than the size of the company or awareness levels,” Passikoff said. “It isn’t a question of how well-known a company is, or even how successful they’ve been. It certainly isn’t whether they use patriotic themes in their ads. Ultimately, whether patriotism can be leveraged to the benefit of the brand is whether that value is seen to part of the brand’s equity, whether it’s acknowledged on a deeply emotional and engaging basis.”

The brands that showed up in the top 25 can all be considered ‘American Icons. (Percentages indicate the degree to which the brand was seen to meet consumer emotional engagement expectations ( ideal is 100%) regarding the individual value of “patriotism:”

Jeep (98%)

Hershey’s/Coca-Cola (97%)

Levi Strauss/Disney (95%)

Colgate (94%)

Zippo (93%)

Wrigley’s (92%)

Ralph Lauren (91%)

Kodak/Gillette (90%)

New Balance/Harley-Davidson (89%)

Budweiser/Marlboro (88%)

Ford (86%)

Louisville Slugger/Smith & Wesson (85%)

GE (84%)

John Deere/L.L. Bean (82%)

Walmart (81%)

Craftsman Tools/ Wilson Sporting Goods/Wrangler (80%)

“As this was a survey about ‘patriotism, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that all of the armed service brands – Coast Guard, Air Force, Army, Marines, and Navy were high on the list,” noted Passikoff. “But as this was a study to see how the value of patriotism was leveraged by product and service brands in for-profit businesses, we’re calling them out separately.”

“Sports teams showed up too,” said Passikoff. “The Yankees, the Patriots, the 49ers, the Cowboys. There’s a genuine and consonant thematic when it comes to patriotism.” Other brands that appeared in the top-50 included Campbell’s, Gibson, GM, Kellogg’s, McDonalds, the NFL, Playboy, Sears, and Whirlpool.

“Rational aspects like ‘Made in the USA’ and CSR activities play a part in the make-up of the brand, of course,” said Passikoff. But with strong emotional engagement and good marketing it’s an unbeatable combination.”