fbpx

Fast food sector cooks up improved brand intimacy in 2018 rankings

by | Oct 23, 2018 | Marketing, Public Relations

The fast food industry improved its emotional connection with consumers this year, moving up from eighth to sixth place in the 2018 Brand Intimacy Report, which is the largest study of brands based on emotions, from intimacy marketing agency MBLM.

The top three in the industry were Starbucks, Chick-fil-A and Chipotle. The remaining brands in the Top 10 for fast food were: Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza, Wendy’s, Baskin-Robins, Subway, Dunkin’ Donuts and KFC.

Fast food sector cooks up improved brand intimacy in 2018 rankings

“Starbucks is the clear leader in the fast food industry,” said Mario Natarelli, managing partner at MBLM, in a news release. “The brand continuously seeks to improve its offerings and deepen customer bonds, from capitalizing on food trends, optimizing its app, personalizing its services and creating a space for people to connect with others. Despite some well-publicized missteps this year, the brand handled those transparently, and continuously seeks to emphasize its social responsibility. Other brands in the industry can learn from this trailblazer on how to build more robust, lasting bonds.”

Additional noteworthy fast food findings from the report include:

  • The fast food industry had an average Brand Intimacy Quotient of 28.0, which was above the cross-industry average of 27.1
  • Indulgence, which describes a brand relationship centered on moments of pampering and gratification, was the most dominant archetype in the category, and Starbucks was the top-performing brand for indulgence
  • Starbucks was also the most intimate brand among women, whereas men preferred Chipotle
  • Domino’s Pizza and Wendy’s moved up in the industry’s rankings since last year, whereas McDonald’s and Subway fell in the rankings

View the fast food industry findings here.

The full Brand Intimacy 2018 Report and the Ranking Tool can be found here.

Fast food sector cooks up improved brand intimacy in 2018 rankings

Brand Intimacy is defined as a new paradigm that leverages and strengthens the emotional bonds between a person and a brand. MBLM’s study again revealed that top intimate brands in the U.S. surpassed the top brands in the Fortune 500 and S&P indices in revenue and profit over the past 10 years.

This year’s report contains the most comprehensive rankings of brands based on emotion, analyzing the responses of 6,000 consumers and 54,000 brand evaluations across 15 industries in the U.S., Mexico and UAE. MBLM’s reports and interactive Brand Ranking Tool showcase the performance of almost 400 brands, revealing the characteristics and intensity of the consumer bonds.

During 2017, MBLM conducted an online quantitative survey among 6,000 consumers in the United States (3,000), Mexico (2,000), and the United Arab Emirates (1,000). Participants were respondents who were screened for age (i.e. 18 to 64 years of age) and annual household income ($35,000 or more) in the U.S. and socioeconomic levels in Mexico and the UAE (A, B, and C socioeconomic levels). 

Richard Carufel
Richard Carufel is editor of Bulldog Reporter and the Daily ’Dog, one of the web’s leading sources of PR and marketing communications news and opinions. He has been reporting on the PR and communications industry for over 17 years, and has interviewed hundreds of journalists and PR industry leaders. Reach him at richard.carufel@bulldogreporter.com; @BulldogReporter

RECENT ARTICLES

10 creative ways to use QR codes in media communications and PR

10 creative ways to use QR codes in media communications and PR

In the fast-evolving landscape of media communications and public relations, QR codes are emerging as versatile tools capable of bridging the gap between traditional strategies and the interactive potential of digital technology. By transforming passive print ads into...