Netflix, Apple, Google, Microsoft, YouTube are most-loved brands, reveals the Love Index 2016 from Accenture Interactive

First-Ever Research identifies which brands people love most, and what companies can do to heighten love for their brands

NEW YORK; Nov. 2, 2016 – Netflix, Apple, Google, Microsoft and YouTube are the most-loved brands overall, according to a multi-country study published today by Accenture Interactive and Fjord, its design and innovation unit.

The top three most-loved brands by country include: - US : Apple, Microsoft, Netflix - UK: Netflix, Google, Apple - Brazil: Netflix, YouTube, Google

What is the love index?

The Love Index 2016 also reveals that Netflix, Fitbit, Amazon, Apple and Facebook are setting the pace in the U.S. for brand experience across industries. People’s interactions with these brands are raising their expectations for other products and services they use – a digitally-driven phenomenon that Accenture Interactive and Fjord call “liquid expectations.”

The award-winning Love Index, 18 months in the making, is a proprietary, first-of-its kind methodology that identified the characteristics that determine Brand Love, derived through extensive qualitative research and quantitative surveys. For its 2016 benchmark, more than 26,000 people in the U.S., U.K. and Brazil rated more than 70 brands in the auto, banking, hospitality and retail industries. Respondents also named their favorite “top of mind” brands, on an unaided basis.

The Love Index is a repeatable and measurable system for evaluating brand performance in any sector and in any market. It complements prevailing brand health tools such as the Net Promoter Score, which asks respondents about their likelihood to recommend a particular product or service. The Love Index takes it a step further by identifying five algorithmically-derived dimensions by which to measure customers’ attitudes toward their physical and digital brand experiences, resulting in a brand love score. The framework and findings can be used as a diagnostic tool to help brands design for brand love.

“Our research tells us people use five characteristics – Fun, Relevant Engaging, Social and Helpful – to describe and rate their experiences with brands,” says Nan Nayak, Fjord’s managing director of design strategy and head researcher. “We’ve found that many of the traits people seek in their human relationships also apply to their relationships with brands. The Love Index reveals why people love brands, and what companies can do to increase and sustain that love.”

FRESH PERSPECTIVE

The shape of love is plotted in a five-dimensional space, with one point for each of the FRESH dimensions:

• Fun – Holds my attention in an entertaining way
• Relevant – Gives me clear and customized information I want, when I want it
• Engaging – Identifies with my individual needs and wants
• Social – Helps me connect with others
• Helpful – Is efficient, easy and adapts over time

The index identified which companies set the pace for each dimension. In the U.S., Netflix is the experience leader for Fun; Fitbit for Relevant; Amazon for Helpful; Apple for Engaging; and Facebook for Social.

THE NETFLIX EFFECT

Netflix is the most-loved brand across all three markets, the research reveals. Americans, Brits and Brazilians all ranked the streaming service #1 for Fun and in the top three across other dimensions.

“Whether they like it or not, other brands – independent of their industry – will be measured against the experience Netflix provides its customers,” says Baiju Shah, global co-lead, Fjord and managing director, Accenture Interactive. “This is liquid expectations fully at play.”

THE SHAPE OF OPPORTUNITY

The Love Index shows that each industry, as measured by six brands (five traditional, one disrupter), has its own distinct shape reflecting what people love most.

For instance, retail brands are most loved for being Relevant, Engaging and Helpful. But the shape these scores create is informed by decades of people’s shopping experiences. A brick-and-mortar brand or start-up looking to differentiate itself could redefine the shopping experience by introducing new ways for people to connect with each other (Social) in an engaging and sustained way (Fun) -- online or in-store.

“In an era of digital disruption, we expect to see brands ‘stretch’ themselves across one or more dimensions to differentiate and keep pace with experience leaders,” Nayak adds. “These investments will lead to rising scores, creating a new shape altogether – for the individual brands or for their industry as a whole. We call the driving force behind this business revolution ‘ the shape of opportunity .’”