Do you often wonder why customers are so attracted to some brands but not others? You’re not alone. In fact, this is one of the great mysteries of the business world.
But companies like Facebook are determined to get an answer. The platform recently polled over 15,000 clients and found out that consumers value experience, consistency, quality, and cost over everything else.
Consumers come in all shapes and forms, though. Some prefer designer products, while others are more frugal. Some people like brands because they have positive past experiences, yet others just like doing business with various companies.
Yet, above everything, consumers care about consistency. So, when positioning your brand, remain consistent. How is this done? We recently polled consumers on several brand positioning methods to see how they react to classic and modern brands.
The Purpose of the Survey
The survey aimed to see what brands people are most drawn to and how their demographics affect their choices.
We collected this data to help business owners launch and rebrand companies of all sizes. Knowing this information allows them to make faster, more well-informed decisions about positioning their brand and how to generate a company name.
Still, to make our survey more interesting, we asked whether Americans prefer to do business with already established companies or new, innovative ones.
Why is this Important?
When rebranding or launching a business, it’s vital that you understand that a tone is the most long-lasting and important branding decision you have to make.
The perfect tone is needed because it allows marketing teams, entrepreneurs, and executives to shape a brand’s personality and how consumers perceive it.
Take a moment to think about what the original name choice would’ve done for these legendary companies:
- Jobs and Wozniak had named the company Executex rather than Apple
- Amazon was Cadabra
- Phil Knight gave Nike the name Blue Ribbon Sports
- Or instead of Google, the name was Backrub.
The brand tone impacts the entire company’s identity and consumer expectations. It’s crucial for branding, and you can’t ignore it when it comes to choosing the perfect brand name.
Our survey was designed to specifically ask Americans if they preferred classic businesses or new ones. We wanted an answer to this question because it’s vital that startups know if they should align as a modern or traditional brand.
Our Findings
Unfortunately, our findings were hardly shocking, but some answers were quite surprising. Here’s a quick rundown of how our 301 participants answered:
- People in their twenties and thirties prefer companies that are just emerging and new over older, more established ones.
- Those between the ages of 35 and 45 also prefer newer brands to those that are already established. Though, this group was a bit more evenly divided.
- Audiences aged 45 to 54 and 55 to 65 preferred reputable and classic brands.
- Reliable and classic companies are the obvious choice for those 55 to 65.
- Our survey found that men have little to no preference regarding the company’s age.
- Alternatively, women prefer older, more classic brands to new and contemporary ones.
- Of the 301 participants, 153 of them preferred firms that were reputable and established, while the other 148 people liked ones that were innovative and new. Our survey found that it doesn’t matter which approach a business takes as long as it aligns with its target audience.
What The Data Means
Our research showed that younger demographics are drawn to disruptive, innovative, modern, and fresh companies, while Gen Xers and Boomers stick with what they know.
The information is highly valuable because it tells a startup targeting a younger crowd to remain innovative and focus on original and new identities. However, companies targeting older generations should stick with a traditional identity.
Read Also:
- 4 Steps To Effectively Positioning Your Brand
- How Can Video Marketing Be Used To Boost Client Engagement?
- A Guide To Increasing The Brand Visibility
Author Bio: Grant Polachek is the head of branding for Squadhelp.com, 3X Inc 5000 startup and disruptive naming agency. Squadhelp has reviewed more than 1 million names and curated a collection of the best available names on the web today. We are also the world’s leading crowdsource naming platform, supporting clients such as Nestle, Dell, Nuskin, and AutoNation.
