M&M’s, Hershey’s Find Brand-Equity Sweetness

Marketing Charts, June 11, 2009 — Plain M&M’s and Hershey’s Kisses scored highest in a ranking of 1,000 US consumer brands with the most brand equity, while a number of financial brands plummeted to the bottom of the list because of the economic crisis, according to (pdf) results from Harris Interactive’s 2009 EquiTrend study.

The annual study, which rated 1,000 high-profile brands based on seven base measures, found that trusted, non-volatile brands are holding steady in the face of economic turmoil. Food brands - particularly comfort foods such as candy, continue to dominate the top-10 list. Candy brands accounted for four of the top five and five of the top 10, while another feel-good food, Campbell’s soup, made the list at #7.... continue reading

Message in What We Buy, but Nobody’s Listening

Evolutionary Psychology and Branding

New York Times, May 18, 2009 — Why does a diploma from Harvard cost $100,000 more than a similar piece of paper from City College? Why might a BMW cost $25,000 more than a Subaru WRX with equally fast acceleration? Why do “sophisticated” consumers demand 16-gigabyte iPhones and “fair trade” coffee from Starbucks?

If you ask market researchers or advertising executives, you might hear about the difference between “rational” and “emotional” buying decisions, or about products falling into categories like “hedonic” or “utilitarian” or “positional.” But Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico, says that even the slickest minds on Madison Avenue are still in the prescientific dark ages.

Instead of running focus groups and... continue reading

Nestlé Sales Buoyed by Price Increases†

Wall Street Journal, October 24, 2008 — The world's largest food company, Nestlé SA, raised its revenue outlook for the year as its strategy of increasing product prices continues to pay off.

By adding features and promoting its brands, Nestlé has been able to persuade consumers to pay more for its products. Following that strategy, it is introducing a new line of baby food, NaturNes, that boasts that it cooks the ingredients separately, an appeal to parents worried about sterilization.

"People go for value. It is not always a question of price," Chief Executive Paul Bulcke said in an interview.