Just changing your package to read “America” rather than Budweiser apparently isn’t enough to make consumers consider you among the most patriotic American brands.
When BrandKeys conducted a survey of 4,860 consumers, 16 to 65 years old, nationwide to determine which brands were “most resonant to patriotism,” Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Budweiser didn’t make the top 25.
But Jack Daniel’s did. The Brown-Forman product leads all bev/al products on the list and is No. 8 among the 280 products surveyed. Sam Adams, the Boston Beer Co. brand, was right behind in the ninth position among the 280 products surveyed. Coors was 26.
Holidays like Independence Day give marketers an opportunity to champion emotional values, some political, but until now, mostly category-based. Typically, 4th of July brand advertising and social outreach would feature patriotic flag-waving and red-white-and-blue motifs, said Robert Passikoff, founder/ceo of BrandKeys, “but a good deal of what used to be forthright marketing has become politicized, with some brands wrapping themselves more tightly in the flag.”
Anti-Trump groups have urged consumers to boycott companies and brands seen to back the President, while Trump partisans have created their own lists of preferred and objectionable companies, brands, and CEOs. “Whether you’re politically left, right, or center,” said Passikoff, “what’s clear is that these consumer attitudinal shifts come with a set of newly re-written rules of branding, expressed every day via news programs and social networks like the President’s favorite, Twitter, and Millennials’ Instagram.”
“What’s absolutely clear is when it comes to patriotically engaging consumers, waving the American flag and having an authentic foundation for being able to wave the flag are two entirely different things — and consumers know it,” Passikoff says.
Believability and authenticity are the keys to emotional engagement, Passikoff says. The more engaged a consumer is with a particular emotional value and an associated brand, the more likely a consumer will trust that emotion and act positively on that belief. Where a brand can establish emotional connections, consumers are six times more likely to believe and behave positively toward the brand.
“It is important to note that these brand rankings do not mean that other brands are not patriotic, or that they don’t possess patriotic resonance or intention,” Passikoff says. Rational aspects, like being an American company, or “Made in the USA,” or having nationally directed CSR activities and sponsorships, all play a part in the personality of any brand. But if you’re a brand that wants to differentiate and engage via emotional values, if there is believability, good marketing just gets better,” said Passikoff. “In most cases, six times better.”