Apple, Converse and SONY are the coolest brands

A little less than 8 out of 10 (78%) US youngsters think both Apple and iPhone are cool brands. Converse (Allstars) and SONY come second (66%). Other cool brands are H&M, Nike, Nintendo and Coca-Cola, with about 6 out of 10 youngsters labelling these brands as cool. Brands doing remarkably better in the US compared to the rest of the world are M&M’s and Doritos (both at 53% of coolness according to the US youth). These are new results of a global InSites Consulting youth study.
“Cool brands manage to use their clear DNA to continuously surprise youngsters with new campaigns, a new product or a new idea, “ says InSites Consulting’s Gen Y Expert and author of How Cool Brands Stay Hot Joeri Van den Bergh. “This regularly renewed approach is necessary in order to keep a hold of the attention of a generation of youth which is addicted to stimuli. Furthermore it is important to connect with people locally via their different passions and interests. Of course everybody knows about the Apple press conference approach. As soon as a new product is available in the shops, they announce yet another innovation via the press. Converse is another good example: they launch new designs every year, which are in line with their target group, such as the current Converse Americana or the DC Comics collection. They link strongly with the main passion of youths: music. They do not only do so by collaborating with Gorillaz and the exclusive unique singles they bring out such as the new Mark Foster, Kimbra and A-Trak, but also by giving a chance to the youth themselves, e.g. in the Rubber Tracks studio project in Brooklyn. Apart from that the brand is also active in street art, e.g. by organizing the Wall to Wall project in Boston. And of course there always is the link with sports such as basketball and skateboarding.”
These types of novelties and events also generate an increased level of ‘buzz’ about brands, which Van den Bergh says is indispensable if you want to get onto the youngsters’ radar. “Something which is not talked about amongst your close friends of which is not shared on your friends’ Facebook wall is not sufficiently important to youngsters. It’s their own way of dealing with the huge quantity of information they are confronted with.”
The full research report with facts and figures for 16 countries (USA, Brazil, Russia, India, China, UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Romania, Italy, SPain, the Netherlands and Belgium) is available online.

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