Brand success, which is often measured by sales and profits, continues to be significantly influenced by the strength of the consumer-brand relationship.

“Marketing messaging and product focus can significantly influence the way that consumers think and feel about a brand”, said Mike Weil of Brand Health Gurus. “Our research design measures emotional and rational brand perceptions, including advertising impact, providing valuable feedback and strategies for marketers to strengthen their own consumer-brand relationships.”

Highlights:

• Volkswagen (62.2%) Love score improves in the first quarter during redesigned Jetta launch, lifting the brand’s Love score into the #1 position, ahead of Nissan.  Nissan (59.8%) has maintained the #2 position for three consecutive quarters and is statistically even with Volkswagen.
  
• Chevrolet (53.7%) loses significant momentum in the first quarter during the Traverse campaign, slipping into the #4 position.  Deterioration of the consumer-brand connection can indicate a coming challenge, if not corrected, limiting future sales and profits success.
  
• Ford (49.8%) gives up previous gains as marketing transitioned to creating awareness of the all-new Maverick pickup truck.
  
• Kia (46.4%) Love score remained mostly unchanged, though slipping two positions as competitors Honda (50.7%) and Jeep (46.7%) gained strength and moved up in the rankings.

MIAMI, FLORIDA, 2 November 2021 – Since 2017, the Automotive Love Study has been measuring the strength of the consumer-brand relationship through a sequence of unique brand health metrics.

“In addition to topline Key Performance Indicators, the Automotive Love study looks beneath the surface of each brand, diagnosing a curated list of metrics that influence brand power said Mike Weil of Brand Health Gurus. Study insights also provide feedback on marketing activities, support brand planning, and help marketers design data-backed strategies for increasing brand sales and profits.”

Highlights:

• Volkswagen (62.6%) Love Score increases as Nissan (60%) moves into the number two position.  Volkswagen marketing continues to lead its product portfolio transition as its SUV models have not been able to fully replace sales given up by its car models.
• Rounding out the top five brands in the Love Zone are Chevrolet (57.1%), Toyota (56.1%) and Ford (52%).  Ford also continues its product portfolio transition with the launch of Bronco Sport and coming Maverick.
• Dodge (31.9%) and Mitsubishi (27.5%) both significantly increase their Love scores, supported by directionally stronger unaided advertising recall.

Click link below to download press release

Brand choice continues to be defined by the strength of the consumer-brand relationship as measured by the Automotive Love Scores.

“Brand marketing can significantly influence what consumers think and feel about a brand said Mike Weil of Brand Health Gurus. The Automotive Love Scores provide feedback to marketers as well as deep insight into understanding how to manage brand success when it comes to sales, revenues, and profits..”

Highlights:

• Ford (54.8%) Love Score strengthens, moving into the number three position, its strongest since the inception of the study in 2017.  Ford’s success coincides with its transition to focus more exclusively on SUV and Truck segments.
• Nissan (66.2%) returns to the leadership position as Volkswagen (56.7%) slips back to 4Q 2020 levels in the number two position.  Nissan’s leadership in the Love rankings supports its position of sales dominator in Mexico.
• Toyota (52.1%) loses momentum, slipping to the bottom of the Love Zone, allowing Chevrolet (52.5%) to move ahead by small margin.
• Honda (46.7%) loses momentum, allowing Kia (48.8%) to move ahead in the Love score rankings.  Mazda (44.7%) has consistently held onto the ninth position in the Automotive Love rankings for three consecutive quarters.

PDF version of press release available for download here:

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