Why Are Great Brands Great?

Any good D&M student knows the secret to a company’s success is a strong brand image. The results from the 2014 YouGov’s Brand Index have recently been released (recap can be found on Women’s Wear Daily). The index measures consumers’ opinions on particular brands in a wide range of categories. A score of 100 is universally positive, -100 is universally negative, and 0 is neutral.

Nike scored the highest, 18.7, earning the top spot for Apparel and Footwear Brands. Additionally, they were the most improved brand in the category, moving up from a 16.5. Victoria’s Secret scored an 18, awarding them the top Retail Apparel Brand in 2014. Other top retail apparel brands for the year include, Old Navy, Kohl’s, Macy’s and Men’s Wearhouse. Amazon.com remained the top discount retailer with a score of 29.7, 10 points above Costco, the runner up.

Even though these companies are recognized as “top brands”, the scores seem pretty mediocre considering brands can score up to 100. How can we accurately measure consumer’s perception of a brand's image? How does this correlate to a company’s success?

There is a Ted Talk given by Simon Sinek in 2009 on “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” that I’ve watched in many classes. In his talk, Sinek explains why some leaders and brands are able to achieve what others cannot. Instead of asking “what?” or “how?”, great leaders, such as Martin Luther King, the Wright Brothers, and Apple ask “why?”. Sinek refers to this as “the golden circle”; this model serves as great inspiration and wonderfully simple tool to measure brand’s success. It’s no wonder that the video, which can be found here, has been watch by nearly 21 million people.

Looking at YouGov’s Top Brands, Victoria’s Secret certainly isn’t known for their superior quality or customer service (I mean really, think about that. Neither are good.). Instead, the company is recognized for it’s brand image. The same can be said for Nike and countless other top brands. Many companies on YouGov’s list of don’t quite make a great case for the “why”. But, I bet if you consider at your favorite brands, you’ll see that you are attracted to them not for what they make or how they sell it to you, but for their “Why”.