Coca Cola On Top For First Time In Annual ‘Best Brands’ Harris Poll

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Coca Cola continues its rise as it moves into the top position of the annual Harris Poll of “best brands” for the first time and rises from No. 3 last year. Sony, which had been in the top position for seven straight years, drops one spot to No. 2, while Toyota, previously in the fourth position, moves up to No. 3. Dell, which had been in the second spot last year drops two spots to No. 4 this year.

These are some of the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,372 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive^® between June 5 and 11, 2007. Survey responses were unaided and a list of brand names was not presented to respondents. The results from this survey cannot be compared to results of the Harris Interactive 2007 EquiTrend Brand Study results, as the methodologies for the surveys differ(1).

The other places on the top-10 list of best brands are taken by Ford (No. 5), Kraft Foods (No. 6), Pepsi Cola (No. 7), Microsoft (No. 8), Apple (No. 9) and Honda (No. 10). Two brands dropped out of this list this year, Hewlett Packard (was No. 7) and General Electric (No. 8).

“Top of mind association with being “best” is a good position for any brand,” said Robert Fronk, Senior Vice President, Brand and Strategy Consulting, Harris Interactive. “For a truly successful brand relationship though, the objective is not just awareness, but to foster the ongoing process and outcome of brand engagement, which requires more custom and sophisticated measures based upon the interaction of the brand and its desired audience.”

Analysis By Industry

Three industries are represented on this year’s list. Four of the companies are from the Electronics industry, while three are each from Autos and Consumer and Package Goods.

Changes Since Last Year

Most of the brands in this year’s Top 10 list have not moved up or down substantially. The most notable changes are Honda, falling from No. 6 to No. 10 and Kraft Foods which rose from No. 9 to No. 6.

A Decade Ago…

One interesting thing to note is the changes from 1997 and what a difference ten years makes. Only four of this year’s top ten brands were on the list back then: Ford (which was No. 1), Sony (which was No. 3), Coca-Cola (which was No. 7) and Pepsi Cola (which was No. 10).

TABLE 1 BEST BRANDS “We would like you to think about brands or names of products and services you know. Considering everything, which three brands do you consider the best?” (All three replies combined)
Base: All Adults
	1995		1996		1997		1998		1999		2000		2001		2002		2003		2004		2005		2006		2007
Coca-Cola	*		8		7		7		*		*		6		5		7		2		4		3		1
Sony	3		1		3		1		2		1		1		1		1		1		1		1		2
Toyota	*		=10		*		6		=6		=7		4		*		*		5		6		4		3
Dell	*		*		*		*		*		5		*		2		3		3		2		2		4
Ford	2		3		1		3		1		4		2		3		6		6		5		5		5
Kraft Foods	*		*		*		*		*		*		*		4		2		4		3		9		6
Pepsi Cola	*		*		10		*		*		*		*		7		=10		*		*		*		7
Microsoft	*		*		*		=8		6		*		7		*		5		*		=10		*		8
Apple	*		*		*		*		*		*		*		*		*		*		*		10		9
Honda	*		*		*		*		*		*		*		9		*		7		=7		6		10
Note: These are spontaneous replies. Respondents are not read or shown a list of brand names.
* Not in Top 10.
= Indicates a tie

BRANDS THAT DROPPED OUT OF TOP-10 THIS YEAR Hewlett Packard (was No. 7) and General Electric (was No. 8)
TABLE 2 NUMBER OF INDUSTRIES REPRESENTED IN THE TOP-TEN LIST
		2001		2002		2003		2004		2005		2006		2007
Electronics*		5		3		4		3		5		5		4
Automobiles		3		3		2		4		4		3		3
Consumer & packaged goods		2		3		4		3		2		2		3
* Includes Microsoft

Methodology

This Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States between June 5 and 11, 2007 among 2,372 adults. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

J 30887

Q 557, 559, 560

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiaries Novatris in France and MediaTransfer AG in Germany, and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at www.harrispollonline.com.

¹ The 2007 EquiTrend Brand Study can be found at http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1232