This could also be the factor that kept a company like The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) from busting into the top five with two of its leading brands, Colgate and Gillette, which finished sixth and 11th, respectively, in polling. While The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) certainly has the brand history and recognition to back up being a part of Americana, brushing our teeth and shaving aren’t exactly the family-oriented, joyful events that, say, going to a theme park, or chowing down on chocolate can be.
Dependable
The final engagement factor that I believe drives patriotic engagement among consumers is the dependability of the brand. We’ve already touched on one component of dependability: a company’s historical roots. Obviously, having endured decades, or a century or more, of economic ups and downs means the brand can be trusted by consumers to be there for many more decades to come.
There’s also the actual dependability of the brand and/or product itself. This could be one of the primary reasons why we don’t see any GM brands appearing in top 25, given its bankruptcy reorganization in 2009. Having sought bankruptcy protection removed the dependable tag consumers often associated with GM.
This is a category where denim-products maker Levi Strauss shines. When it comes to denim pants, no brand is better known in the U.S. than Levi Strauss, and no jean more classic than its “501,” which had its introduction as far back as the 1890s.
The takeaway
Looking at this from an investing perspective, the key point here is that the companies behind these brands are doing a fantastic job of targeting their marketing, and utilizing their brand value, to drive sales.
While The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) does spend quite a bit on advertising — nearly $3 billion in 2010 alone — it can let its branding do the talking for the company. As the most valuable brand in the world according to Interbrand, and operating in all but two countries worldwide, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s bottom-line growth is practically self-sustaining.
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has also done a phenomenal job hitting its target family audience through theme park expansion and modernization, as well as by hitting the basic components of media entertainment by driving growth at ESPN, and forging content deals with Netflix and DreamWorks Animation to capture the younger audiences.
If anything, this survey gives risk-averse investors some research fodder for potential future investments – in between setting off fireworks, of course.
Have a happy and safe July 4th, Fools!
The article These Are the 5 Most Patriotic Brands originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Sean Williams.
Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool owns shares of, and recommends, Ford, Netflix, and Disney. It also recommends Coca-Cola, DreamWorks Animation, General Motors, and Procter & Gamble.
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