Gaming brands rank as the most intimate with both millennials and Gen Z, according to MBLM’s 2020 brand intimacy study.
The annual study ranks brands based on emotions and across generations, and is now in its 10th year. MBLM defines brand intimacy as the emotional science that measures the bonds we form with the brands we use and love.
In terms of the different age groups, millennials rate PlayStation as the most intimate brand, a jump from eighth spot since last year’s survey. Millennial men, in particular, have helped push PlayStation into the top stop, although the gaming platform has been a strong millennial brand in its study for years, according to MBLM managing partner, Mario Natarelli.
“Similar to our 2019 findings, millennials form strong connections with brands in the media and entertainment industry," he said. "The combination of the e-sports phenomenon and impact of hardware platforms has likely fueled PlayStation’s rise in the rankings.”
Additionally, Natarelli noted across the full spectrum of millennials respondents, more than 50 per cent record some form of intimacy with the PlayStation brand.
Retailers also figure high up on the list, coming in behind the popular media and entertainment brands. For example, Amazon and Target rank as the second and third most intimate brands for millennials this year. They superseded YouTube, Apple and Netflix, which topped the 2019 study.
Millennial women selected Walmart, Target and Disney as their top three and millennial men selected PlayStation, Xbox and YouTube.Across the board, brands rounding out the top 10 for millennials this year are: Disney, Ford, Jeep, Apple, YouTube Xbox and Nintendo.
Among Gen Z, Xbox topped the list followed by music streaming platform, Spotify, and cosmetics giant, Sephora.
The Brand Intimacy 2020 Report contains a comprehensive rankings of brands based on emotion, analysing the responses of 6200 consumers and 56,000 brand evaluations across 15 industries in the US, Mexico and UAE. The full study will be launched later this week.
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