Last updated on May 7th, 2018
Amazon continues to dominate the retail industry, according to marketing agency MBLM’s Brand Intimacy 2018 Report, a study of brands based on emotions.
The retail industry ranked third overall in the study, following the media & entertainment and automotive industries, which placed first and second, respectively. In the retail category, Amazon was followed by Target and Whole Foods. The remaining brands in the study’s top 10 were: Walmart, Nordstrom, Home Depot, eBay, Ikea, H&M and Macy’s.
“Brand Intimacy is defined as a new paradigm that leverages and strengthens the emotional bonds between a person and a brand, says MBLM. “For the third year, the study 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.”
“Amazon has cracked the brand intimacy code and continues to improve its rank in our annual study,” said Mario Natarelli, MBLM managing partner. “While retail is facing challenges, the industry is in the midst of a reinvention, and brands should be leveraging our brand intimacy principles to build stronger bonds with their customers.”
Additional retail industry findings from the report include:
- The industry had an average brand intimacy quotient of 42.0, well above the overall industry average of 27.1.
- Three of the top 10 most intimate brands in the study were retailers: Amazon, Target and Whole Foods.
- Fulfillment, the archetype related to performance, was most associated with the category, and Amazon was the top-performing retail brand for fulfillment.
- Amazon also ranked No. 1 for both men and women.
- Millennials chose Target as their top choice in the retail industry.
- Those aged 35 to 64 preferred Amazon, as did people with annual incomes between $35,000 and $75,000, while Whole Foods ranked No. 1 for those with annual incomes higher than $75,000.
- Target and Walmart improved their intimacy scores, while H&M and Macy’s declined in this year’s rankings.
To view the retail platforms industry findings, click here. The full Brand Intimacy 2018 Report and the Ranking Tool can be found here.
This year’s report analyzed 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.
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