This is the third year we’ve run our “battle of the brands” survey and one thing is clear: the older a brand is, the stronger it tends to be. Indeed, this year, as in the past two, our readers chose older brands as having stronger identities roughly 70 percent of the time.
Perhaps that outcome is intuitive, given that an older brand has had more time to establish, and presumably refresh, itself. And yet, in a marketing culture that tends to celebrate what is young and new, it is also surprising.
Our survey is as simple as a light switch. We present two brands and readers are asked to select the one they think is stronger. To provide some context, we framed each faceoff. For example, the choice between Coke (1892) and Nike (1964) was for “global brand.” Coke won handily, 74%-26%. As a “retail brand” it was Target (1902) over Costco (1983), 88%-12%. As an “iconic car,” the Volkswagen Beetle (1938) bested the Mini Cooper (1959), 70%-30%.
That last one is especially interesting, given that the Mini arguably is the “hotter” car right now. Similarly, Hershey’s (1894) edged Godiva (1926) 54%-46%, even though many respondents opined that Godiva’s product is higher quality. Same thing with Budweiser (1785) versus Samuel Adams (1984), with Bud winning, 61%-39%.
The longevity factor held when the question turned to “personal” brands. Walt Disney (1901) whipped Mark Zuckerberg (1984) as “innovator,” 68%-32%. As First Ladies go, it was Jacqueline Kennedy (1929) over Michelle Obama (1964), 73%-27%. And where “creativity” is concerned, Pablo Picasso (1881) beat John Lennon (1940), 65%-35%.
Exactly why this apparent age advantage exists is open to speculation. Where individuals are concerned, perhaps we are unfairly comparing a lifetime of work to a work in progress. Maybe it’s because our readership skews older; in fact, a majority of respondents said they had more than 15 years of experience in marketing. Or, it could be that the reasons behind the choice had nothing to do with the brand’s age.
Such was the case with Zappos (1999) zapping Apple (1976) on “customer service,” 54%-46%. It was a bit of a surprise to see any brand defeat Apple on any measure, so kudos to Zappos. Incidentally, Steve Jobs (1955) also lost out to Albert Einstein (1879) as a “genius,” 74%-26%. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t a fair fight.
Other relatively younger brands that held an edge included BMW (1916) versus Mercedes (1886); and Whole Foods (1980) versus Patagonia (1972).
And then there are brands that are apparently too young to have managed to make a real impression. Our “yogurt” matchups between Fage and Chobani, and “yoga” between Lululemon and Athleta were skipped by 23% and 20% of respondents, respectively. The prevailing comments were, “huh?” and “who?”.
Interestingly, the same thing happened in an even bigger way with American Idol contestants Scotty McCreery and James Durbin — whose smackdown was skipped by a whopping 36% of respondents, many commenting that they had never heard of either. The show may be a ratings success, but this year’s Idols do not appear to be denting pop culture.
To wrap up the survey, we asked readers to name the all-time most powerful brand identity, and this year, as in the past two, the choice was Coca-Cola, this time by 44%, followed by Apple, at 21%. That’s up from 35% and 16%, respectively, last year, and 32% and 10%, in 2009. For Coke, the prevailing adjective was “ubiquity” while for Apple it was “innovation.” Also-rans were Nike, McDonald’s, Disney and Starbucks. 
Survey results: