Oreo, America’s “wonderfilled” classic cookie, has topped this year’s list of Kids’ Most Loved Brands, according to findings from the 2015 Young Love study of more than 7,000 children and their parents. In fact, food brands dominate this year’s list, taking 14 of the 25 spots on the list.
Oreo beats out last year’s No. 1 brand, iPad. Oreo also ranks No. 3 among moms this year, making it the most powerful family brand of 2015.
Oreo can credit its success to four key elements: heritage/nostalgia, great taste, seemingly unending product innovation and a fresh marketing campaign that leverages the brand’s interactivity and resonates with American families, according to the study, which also points to the shareable moments the brand creates within families at a time when contemporary kids and parents are eager to reconnect.
Among the tens of thousands of open-ended responses in the Young Love study, an 11-year-old girl summarizes: “I love Oreo because they are fun and taste good with milk, and I love my dad’s milkshakes with them.”
“Oreo is something fun I can have with my kids. I always loved Oreo as a kid,” a mother of a 9-year-old boy adds.
Wynne Tyree, president of Smarty Pants market research firm that conducts the annual study, adds, “Oreo owns ‘the dunk.’ Countless kids and parents reference their love of dunking Oreos in milk. It’s a reminder that Oreo has done a great job of not only creating a cookie, but owning an experience.”
2015’s 25 Top Kid Brands
1. Oreo, ‘Brand Kidfinity’ Score 880
2. M&M’S, 863
3. Netflix, 857
4. iPad, 856
5. Hershey’s, 856
6. Doritos, 850
7. YouTube, 844
8. Disney, 843
9. Lay’s, 839
10. Cheetos, 839
11. Reese’s, 839
12. Skittles, 838
13. Nickelodeon, 833
14. Minions, 832
15. McDonald’s, 830
16. Kit Kat, 825
17. Chips Ahoy!, 824
18. Crayola, 823
19. Goldfish, 822
20. Pringles, 820
21. Toys “R” Us, 818
22. Disney Channel, 817
23. Apple, 817
24. Fruit Roll-Ups, 816
25. Xbox, 813
Young Love is a brand equity tracking study conducted online among a representative sample of U.S. households with children age 6-12. In 2015, 7,054 children and their parents evaluated 283 consumer brands across more than 20 categories as part of the three-month study. Kidfinity scores are a composite measure on a scale of 0-1,000 that factor in brand awareness, love and popularity.