So if five beverage companies were to disappear from the face of the earth tomorrow (the horror!) which one would consumers miss the most? Turns out to be Coca-Cola, according to a new survey by the strategic communication company, Brodeur Partners.
The survey, which measured such characteristics as a company’s ability to meet customers’ needs and relate to their values, revealed interesting attributes about consumers’ relationships with each corporation. The study tested “relevance” as how a well company reflects what consumers value in organizations and businesses.
Starbucks, for example, has recently passed PepsiCo when it comes to consumer interest. Meanwhile, fans of Red Bull find the brand extremely interesting – much more so than any of the other measures. For Brodeur, that might indicate that Red Bull fans tend to be very loyal to the brand – or at least that it’s found the right way of relating to them.
Out of the five beverage companies: Coke, Starbucks, Red Bull, Budweiser and Pepsi, Brodeur Partners said consumers indicated they would most like to do business with and associate themselves with Coke. They would also miss Coke the most if it were to go out of business, and most closely associated Coke with their values.
While Starbucks ran a relatively close second to Coke in all those categories, consumers in Brodeur’s survey found it somewhat more interesting than Coke as a brand. While brand relevance did not reflect the size of a company, the study noted that it did correlate to the speed of a company’s growth. If the Brodeur Partners are right, it seems Starbucks is shooting for the stars.