Top 100 Brand Loyalty Rankings: Surprises, Dramatic Rise & Falls of Brands Show Volatility of Consumer Demands & Expectations

Customer expectations of a brand and its ability to meet or exceed them is the overriding essential cornerstone to building consumer loyalty according to global research consultancy firm Brand Keys and this year’s edition of its annual Loyalty Leaders research and rankings.

Leading this year’s list of the top 100 brands with the ability to generate customer loyalty out of 1,465 brands assessed in 142 market categories is Apple, which came in first for the second consecutive year and was categorized in the smartphone market.  The second ranked brand in the smartphone category was Samsung which improved its ranking to seventh, up from eighth the prior year. No other smartphone brand made the top 100 ranking.

In second was Amazon, which also repeated its performance in the rankings from last year. Amazon was listed in the online retail category and was ahead of the brand that came in second in that category – Walmart – which was ranked 27^th and up from 36^th last year. Right behind was ebay in 28^th which came in at the same spot in 2023.

Apple and Amazon were the only two brands in the top ten last year that retained their positions. 

Photo by Olivier Bergeron on Unsplash

What may be a surprise to some readers, and disappointing to others given the warnings and criticisms surrounding it, is TikTok’s third place ranking in the list and its position as the top social networking brand. Last year, TikTok came in fifth despite the already-growing discourse about the outlet, especially from the federal government and media. 

Second in the social networking category was YouTube which came in sixth this year after placing 11^th last year.  Coming in a distant third is Facebook which slipped to 72^nd after placing 58^th last year.  X was the last social networking outlet that ranked inside the top 100 and placed 97^th after finishing 92^nd in 2023.

Domino’s, the only brand in the pizza category ranked in the top 100, came in fourth place after finishing third last year. A surprisingly dominant performance by the pizza brand considering the marketing money spent by competitors Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, and Papa Johns.

Not surprising is Netflix’s performance in the rankings at the top-rated video streaming brand coming in fifth (a slight slip from last year when in finished fourth.) Next in the category is Amazon at 16^th – a drop from 9^th last year – and Hulu at 35^th which fell from 21^st last year.

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Making a significant jump in the rankings and landing at eighth is Levi Strauss which is this year’s top apparel brand. The iconic denim maker was 37^th last year. Insight into why the brand’s customer loyalty increased so dramatically year-to-year was not provided in the public information presented by Brand Keys. But, as with so many brands in the survey, it is reasonable to assume myriad factors influenced a brand’s performance, good and bad, including pricing, inventory availability, the same factors of their competitors, and social trends of the moment (although I am sure marketing executives and advertising creatives are screaming for inclusion as influencers to a brand’s performance as well.)

Completing the top ten are Dunkin at 9^th place and Mattel in 10^th place.  Dunkin, which finished 16^th in 2023, was the top brand performer in the broad ‘coffee’ category and far ahead of second-place Starbucks which ranked 81^st (a fall from 69^th last year.)  Mattel, the top brand performer in the toys category, was 42^nd last year and its dramatic increase to placing within the top ten is believed to be overwhelmingly a result of last year’s Barbie success. As the buzz has faded from the 2023 Barbie movie and related marketing, it will be interesting to see how the brand performs in 2025. Mattel was the only brand to make the top 100 this year.

Just outside the top ten and coming in as the top automotive brand in 11^th place is Hyundai. The car maker was 15^th in 2023 and came in ahead of Ford which dramatically rose in the rankings this year to 17^th place after finishing 40^th last year. The third best performing automotive brand this year is Toyota which ranked 26^th – a decrease from its position at 22 last year.

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“The better a brand meets expectations determines how loyal customers will be short term and how profitable a brand will be on a long-term basis,” said Robert Passikoff, founder and president of New York-based Brand Keys, Inc. (brandkeys.com). But he also warned that expectations are not static. They increase every year – on average by 30% – while brands only keep up by 8-12%, demonstrating the gap between what consumers truly desire and feel a brand delivers. “It explains why some brands do better – or worse – than others. On our annual list and in the day-to-day marketplace,” said Passikoff.

Some notable top ranking brands by other categories in the list this year include:

·         Discover – credit card – 12^th place (last year 12^th place)

·         Trader Joe’s – natural foods – 13^th place ( last year 20^th place)

·         WhatsApp – instant messaging – 14^th place ( last year 7^th place)

·         Home Depot – home improvement retail – 15^th place ( last year 18^th place)

·         Nike – athletic footwear – 18^th place (last year 6^th place)

·         PayPal – online payments – 21^st place (last year 24^th place)

·         FOX – tv news – 23^rd place (last year 25^th place)

·         Google – search engine – 25^th place (last year 23^rd place)

·         McDonald’s – quick serve – 31^st place ( last year 38^th place)

·         Microsoft – computers – 32^nd place (last year 39^th place)

·         UPS – delivery services – 39^th place (last year 23^rd place)

·         Chipotle – fast casual – 42^nd place ( last year 55^th place)

·         AT&T Wireless – wireless providers – 44^th place (last year 32^nd place)

·         Crest -toothpaste- 45^th place (last year 43^rd place)

·         Chobani – yogurt – 48^th place (last year 30^th place)

·         Chase – banks – 53^rd place (last year 51^st place)

·         Delta – airlines – 55^th place (last year 60^th place)

·         CVS – pharmacy – 58^th place (last year 50^th place)

·         GEICO – insurance – 60^th place (last year 48^th place)

·         NFL – major league sports – 83^rd place (last year 94^th place)

·         Hershey’s – snacks – 85^th place (not ranked last year in the top 100)

·         Expedia – online travel – 95^th place (not ranked last year in the top 100)

Photo by Jon Cellier on Unsplash

Observing the brands throughout the top 100 list, there are many surprises and a quite a few head scratchers. Besides factors earlier mentioned in this article, it does seem reasonable for many ranked brands that either effective marketing and advertising helped a brand or something more tangible and meaningful – improved customer experience.

Passikoff notes, “Expectation shifts and a brand’s ability to meet them explain the changes in loyalty ranks. Levi Strauss’ is directly related to better meeting direct-to-consumer (D2C) consumer expectations. Ford’s post-purchase remote service options fueled loyalty for their brand. Amex ramped up customer experience (CX) programs to better meet customer expectations.”

On the other hand, Brand Keys points out both FedEx and UPS saw loyalty rankings drop amid post-pandemic consumers’ engagement with alternative delivery options. Chobani is seeing the effects of lifestyle expectations shifts and an expanded competitive set including entries from Iceland and Australia. Sam’s Club was hurt by revoking free shipping for online orders under $50. Dollar Tree added more expensive items, antithetical to customer expectations. “That’s what happens when consumers expectations aren’t met. Delight turns to disappointment. And loyalty is always the first victim,” advised Passikoff.

The brands this year with the largest increases in the loyalty rankings included:

·         Mattel (+32)

·         Levi Strauss (+29)

·         Ford (+23)

·         American Express & Ralph Lauren (+16 each)

·         Chipotle (+13)

The brands this year with the largest decreases in the loyalty rankings included:

·         Chobani (-18)

·         UPS & Sam’s Club (-16 each)

·         Lululemon (-15)

·         Facebook, FedEx, and Hulu (-14 each)

·         Dollar Tree (-13)

Only four brands are new this year in the Top 100, the lowest since the survey began 16 years ago:

·         Visa (#92)

·         Expedia (#96)

·         Taco Bell (#98)

·         Wrangler (#100)

The consulting firm stated in the announcement of this year’s rankings, “loyalty ends up being all about creating emotional connections, which drives how well consumers feel a brand meets their expectations. A brand that does that, always performs better in the marketplace.”

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Overall, the three categories with the most brands making the top 100 are retail (21%), entertainment (185), and consumer packaged goods (14%).  Automotive brands comprised 13% of the brands that made the list as the technology sector.  Financial services accounted for 10% of the brands in the rankings and personal services made up six percent of the brands included this year in the rankings. Restaurants made up five prevent of the list.

As with almost any list published, debate, skepticism, criticism, and dismissal (along with the occasional outrage) results from such endeavors. Readers can speculate on what exactly was the driving force behind the ranking for each brand despite any methodology provided by the researchers.

Many brands performance, including the two top ranked brands, Apple and Amazon, might just as easily be explained by the simple premise those brand consumers simply received what they wanted, how they wanted it, and by what cost and investment in energy obtaining it. Some others on the list, as was pointed out by Brand Keys, seem to be ranked directly by tangible improvements and enhancements in their operations that improved the customer experience and more specifically, customer service.

Many others though in the list provoke wonderment, especially those in categories where one does not see any marked differences in product or service. Again, assuming pricing, value, competitor weakness or passing social or economic trends are not influencing a brand’s loyalty are some of these brands the few that can point to marketing and advertising as the key to improved consumer loyalty? Or, as there are so many well-established brands with decades and generations of product/brand messaging, optics, promotion, and image-making millions spent behind it, are just reaping built-in brand approval based on comfort of familiarity?

Photo by Wojtek Witkowski on Unsplash

Regardless, Passikoff notes that today consumer demands and expectations of a brand, along with little or no tolerance for being disappointed, makes the brand loyalty landscape more unsettled, risky, and quick to change than ever.  But, by keeping count on such brand perception and loyalty rankings as the Brand Keys list, Passikoff claims a brand can be far ahead of noticing developing issues and declining power in brand compared to other methods.

“Increased expectations have made loyalty more challenging today because they relate to emotional values and behaviors. But those values are leading indicators of consumer behavior and predictive of what consumers truly desire. So, by tracking expectations, a brand can put an early warning system into place. “Changes in expectations provide brands with category and brand value alerts up to 18 months in advance of the marketplace, two years ahead of brand trackers, and 5 years ahead of focus groups.”