PHOENIX (Nov. 21, 2022) – /Zion & Zion, a full-service, global marketing agency, released a study that explored the relative brand personalities of 45 top U.S. brands. This study, the first in a multi-part series, introduces the industries and brands, sheds light on the different facets of brand personality in the Aaker scale and provides high-level results.

The Zion & Zion research team selected brands based on established brand value and industry leadership rankings. The survey included 9,309 adults, 18 years of age and up. Respondents were asked to rate their familiarity with one of the 45 brands, and those who answered with at least “somewhat familiar” were retained for the study resulting in a data set of 6,444 responses. The survey measured five brand personality dimensions: Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication and Ruggedness. Each dimension consists of multiple facets, and each facet consists of multiple traits. A total of 42 traits describes each brand’s perceived personality.

“It’s important to keep in mind that each brand has a unique profile that needs to be understood in relation to the brand’s positioning and target segment,” said Aric Zion, CEO of Zion & Zion. “Understanding a brand’s personality is critical in building a persona or identifying what sets a brand apart from competitors and solidifies a brand’s presence in the minds of consumers.”

When comparing brand personality dimensions, we found that the top U.S. brands score highest on competence, followed by sincerity, excitement, and sophistication, while scoring lowest on ruggedness. Our interpretation of this finding is it takes establishing a brand as competent in its industry for a company to be considered a leading brand.

As a group, the brands had varying scores across brand personality dimensions – no brand scored high on all dimensions or low on all dimensions. For example, The Disney+ Streaming Service has the highest score on two dimensions (sincerity and excitement); Amazon leads on competence; Apple’s TV+ leads on sophistication; and Nike leads on ruggedness. Facebook has the lowest score on two dimensions (competence and sincerity). Wells Fargo has the lowest excitement scores, Walmart is lowest on sophistication, and CVS is lowest on ruggedness.

View the full research report here: Part I: The Brand Personality Of 45 Major U.S. Brands.

Zion & Zion is an agency that provides global clients with an integrated, multidimensional set of services aimed at holistically understanding and improving customer experience. These services range across branding, market research, marketing technology, analytics, data visualization, creative, content, communications, UX/CX and digital media.

Zion & Zion’s clients include American Eagle Outfitters, Aristocrat Technologies, Bally Sports, BD (Becton Dickinson), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goodwill, McDonald’s, NASCAR, the Phoenix Suns, and Walmart. Learn more at /http://www.zionandzion.com or follow us on Twitter @ZIONandZION, Instagram @zionandzion, Facebook @ZionandZionAgency and LinkedIn Zion & Zion.