In this article we will list 15 most loved brands in the US.
The Complex Relationship: Love and Hate for Brands in the Modern Market
Brand love is a tricky topic, making it difficult to name the most loved brands in the US or even worldwide. In the age of the internet, consumers, brands, and the media are constantly interacting, creating a volatile environment that can quickly make or break a company’s reputation.
To be a popular brand, product quality and customer satisfaction are essential. How a corporation handles customer issues, as well as its commitment to customer service, builds trust. Ethical factors, including sustainable methods and fair employee treatment, have become increasingly important as well. Building and sustaining trust is critical to marketing and customer retention. Since the pandemic, consumers have re-evaluated their connections with businesses, preferring those that share their values. According to one study, 71% of respondents want individualized experiences from businesses, demonstrating a significant desire for favorable brand interactions. Environmental sustainability and ethical behavior, especially employee treatment, are important considerations in determining customer preferences.
On the contrary, while any brand can become the subject of customer rage, the most despised brands are frequently among the most well-known, powerful, and beloved. The paradoxical tendency for brand hate and love to coexist results in a phenomenon known as brand polarization. Polarizing businesses face specific situations that experts and practitioners believe might be utilized in marketing efforts to exploit consumer wrath. The current study adds the idea of hate-acknowledging advertising (HAA) to academic marketing literature. HAA is described as advertising that openly admits that a brand is disliked by some customers.
One of the market leaders for decades is the US clothing brand, NIKE, Inc. (NYSE: NKE); a perfect example. It has become a household name in sportswear and is one of the top American brands in clothing. People like the company’s values and commitment to the environment, in addition to its shoes and apparel. 65% of people who own sneakers in the United States say they prefer Nike. Of the 97% of Americans who are familiar with Nike, 67% like the brand. Nike holds 38.68% of the market and represents one of the best US brands clothing for decades. However, Nike is accustomed to being in difficulty. The clothing business has featured Lance Armstrong in advertisements after he was found doping, Maria Sharapova after she failed a drug test, and Tiger Woods during a sex scandal and after being accused of drunk driving. Although these occurrences harmed the company’s business, they did not harm its reputation as a one of the most loved brands in America.
Despite numerous controversies and criticisms, some companies remain immensely popular. Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) has been repeatedly named as the world’s leading soft drink brand, with a global brand value of more than 98 billion US dollars. Coca-Cola is abundant in sugar, particularly sucrose, though, which promotes tooth cavities when drank consistently, and its high caloric value adds to obesity. In March 2004, local officials in Kerala shut down a $16 million Coke bottling factory that was blamed for a significant decrease in the quantity and quality of water accessible to local farmers and communities. Despite all of this criticism, the Cola-Cola Company’s income has increased significantly in recent years, reaching over 46 billion US dollars in their most recent fiscal year while remaining at the top of all rankings of the world’s favorite drink.
A shopping center with an escalator and people standing with bags in hand.
Methodology
We based our research on data from Axios, Merchant Machine, YouGov, Morning Consult, and Ranking the Brands, primarily using unique surveys. Axios polled over 16,000 people to rank brands on nine factors. Merchant Machine analyzed tweets with AI to score sentiment. YouGov Ratings calculated positive popularity by dividing favorable opinions by total mentions. Morning Consult surveyed over 400,000 individuals, and Ranking the Brands created its own popularity list. We compared these lists to identify the 15 brands that appeared on each. However, the most beloved brand may also be one of the most despised. Compare our list of the 15 most loved brands in the US with the most hated brands in the US, and you’ll see that the top of both lists may look similar.
Based on our study, these are the 15 most loved brands in the US.
15. Ziploc
Insider Monkey Score: 2
Ziploc is an American brand of reusable, resealable sliding channel storage bags and containers that were created and tested by The Dow Chemical Company in 1968 and are now manufactured by S. C. Johnson & Son. SC Johnson is one of the oldest family-owned businesses in America today. It was started in 1886 in Racine, Wisconsin, and is still going strong. A 2020 statistic shows which brands of plastic freezer, sandwich, or storage bags were most popular in the United States. According to this data, 204.86 million Americans used Ziploc in 2020. One of the reasons it is on the list of the 15 most loved brands in the US is that the brand is committed to a world of sustainability and is working hard to eradicate plastics and use renewable energy sources to lower its carbon impact.
14. Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT)
Insider Monkey Score: 2
Despite being based only in the United States, Target is among the world’s largest retailers in terms of sales, brand value, and store count. Target, a general goods store, sells products in various categories, including food, clothes, and consumer electronics. Most of the almost 2,000 Target stores in the United States are in California. Target’s revenues dipped by 1.7% in 2023, the first time they have done so since 2016. This resulted in Target’s net revenues reaching around 106 billion US dollars in 2023. This was still an excellent year for Target, with sales higher than any other year until 2022 and more than $30 billion higher than five years ago. People adore Target because of its low prices, excellent customer service, nice and helpful workers, and the store’s cleanliness. It includes a selection of good-quality products that attract customers.
13. FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX)
Insider Monkey Score: 2
FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) is an American international courier delivery service firm headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, well known for its overnight shipping and delivery services. FedEx was founded in January 1998 and has since evolved to become one of the world’s leading courier and local delivery services. In the fiscal year 2023, the corporation made over 90 billion US dollars in annual sales, with total package revenue accounting for approximately 34 billion dollars. FedEx Corporation has continued to expand its portfolio, with total assets expected to exceed 87 billion US dollars in 2023. Looking to extend its activities across Europe, FedEx personnel are motivated, supportive, and eager to contribute to the overall company goals and assist their customers.
12. Cheerios
Insider Monkey Score: 2
There were spy balloons, airplane black boxes, and the submarine that investigated the Titanic, all led by the company called General Mills. General Mills and its electronics division have a long and interesting past that goes beyond making food. What the company does best, though, is making cereals, like its own brand Cheerios. The cereals are second most important product line for General Mills, coming in after snacks. The numbers show that 63.02 million Americans ate regular Cheerios in 2020. Cheerios are low in calories and fat. They also contain many important nutrients that people often lack, such as vitamin D and fiber. Some groups have advised that eating cereal every morning could be harmful, as it has been linked to issues like IBS, bloating, inflammation, and glucose intolerance. However, Cheerios remain one of the 15 most loved brands in the US.
11. YouTube
Insider Monkey Score: 2
YouTube, an American internet video-sharing website, was founded on February 14, 2005, by three former PayPal employees: Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. Today, though, it is owned by Google. Its headquarters are in San Bruno, California, United States, and it is the world’s second most visited website behind Google Search. YouTube has over 2.5 billion monthly users who watch over a billion hours of video per day. As of May 2019, videos were being uploaded to the platform at a rate of more than 500 hours per minute, with an estimated 14 billion videos by 2021. YouTube’s popularity stems from its being free to use, allowing users to view unlimited videos at no cost. Additionally, it offers creativity and the freedom for users to create content, become famous, and earn money so it became one of the 15 most loved brands in the US.
10. The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD)
Insider Monkey Score: 2
The demand for appliances, kitchen fixtures, timber, building materials, plumbing, and other home renovation products is linked to the need for housing. As a result, any changes in new and existing home sales significantly impact the industry’s overall performance. In 2023, overall home improvement retailer sales in the United States were estimated to be $545 billion. In the United States, two home improvement retailers dominate the market, with Home Depot being one of them. According to a 2023 poll, The Home Depot was regarded as one of the top home improvement retail chains in the United States in terms of customer satisfaction. In 2023, Home Depot’s global net sales were around 153 billion US dollars, down from approximately 157 billion the year before.
9. The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX)
Insider Monkey Score: 2
In 1913, a wood and coal dealer, a bookkeeper, a banker, a lawyer, and a miner each invested $100 in what would become The Clorox Company. Their liquid bleach factory, located in Oakland, California, created the principal product, Clorox, which is a combination of the names of its two key ingredients: chlorine and sodium hydroxide. One hundred years later, the company has expanded into a multinational corporation with approximately 9,000 employees in offices around the world, and it is on Fortune magazine’s Fortune 500 list. The Clorox Company’s global net sales in 2023 were around 7.4 billion US dollars, an increase over the previous year.
8. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX)
Insider Monkey Score: 2
As we move up on the list of the 15 most loved brands in the US, we discover more and more brands that are also listed as the most hated brands. Netflix is one of these. Although the company’s popularity is growing globally, the United States and Canada have traditionally been the most important markets for Netflix, with over 75 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2023. Netflix began as a DVD-by-mail service and has since grown to become one of the world’s most popular video streaming services. The company was among the first to recognize the potential of video streaming technology, and it began transitioning to a subscription video-on-demand model in 2007. Since this transformation, Netflix’s revenue has increased by approximately $30 billion in just 14 years.
7. Sony
Insider Monkey Score: 2
Sony Corporation, or simply Sony, is a well-established international corporation with its headquarters in Tokyo’s Minato area. In 2022, the company’s annual revenue exceeded $82 billion US dollars. Sony is a global leader in consumer electronics, manufacturing a wide range of devices including televisions, digital cameras, smartphones, and hearables. The company is best known for its highly popular range of home video game consoles sold under the PlayStation brand. In 2022, Sony sold approximately 14 million PlayStation 5 units globally, placing second behind Nintendo, which sold over 19 million Nintendo Switch units that year.
6. Trader Joe’s
Insider Monkey Score: 2
Trader Joe’s enjoys a remarkable 74% brand recognition among grocery store customers in the United States. Trader Joe’s prioritizes delivering a unique customer experience. This experience features engaging and friendly employees who enjoy conversing with customers, hand-drawn price tags that create a local market ambiance, consistent pricing, and the appeal of limited edition seasonal and experimental items that transform shopping into an exciting treasure hunt.