Technology Turns Brand Loyalty List Topsy-Turvy

The 2012 edition of the top 100 “loyalty leaders” list compiled by Brand Keys, a New York company that specializes in brand and customer-loyalty consulting, is significantly different from the lists of the last two years because of the continuous pace of change in technology.

There are 21 brands in the top 100 for 2012 that did not appear in 2011, said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, including 4 of the brands in the top 10. The report, which is the 16th from Brand Keys that ranks brands on customer loyalty, can be downloaded here.

“Brand loyalty has always been primarily driven by emotional engagement,” Mr. Passikoff said in a statement, “and the rankings on this year's list make it crystal clear that connection is everything.”

Of the top 10, three are Apple-branded products: iPad tablets, at No. 1; the iPhone smartphone, at No. 3; and Apple computers, at No. 5.

Two Amazon-branded products made the top 10: Amazon's tablets, like the Kindle Fire, at No. 2; and the amazon.com online retail service, at No. 4.

The rest of the top 10 are as follows: Samsung tablet, sixth; “Call of Duty” video game, seventh; Samsung cellphone, eighth; Halo video game, ninth; and Twitter, 10th.

Of the top 10, the four entries that did not appear on the list last year are the Apple tablets, the Amazon tablets, the Samsung tablet and “Call of Duty.”

Other technology brands on the top rungs of the list, from 11th through 25th place, are the Kindle e-reader from Amazon, No. 11; Google, No. 14; YouTube, owned by Google, No. 15; Facebook, No. 16; and Zappos, the online retailer, No. 18.

The highest-ranking brand without technology roots is Mary Kay, the cosmetics brand, at No. 12.