MBLM Announces Disney Ranks First in Media & Entertainment Industry, According to its Brand Intimacy 2017 Report

MBLM, the Brand Intimacy Agency focused on strategy, design, creative and technology, today revealed that Disney ranks the most intimate brand in the media & entertainment industry according to its Brand Intimacy 2017 Report, which is the largest study of brands based on emotions. Netflix ranked second in the industry, jumping from 25 in MBLM’s overall 2015 study to the number five spot this year. Brand intimacy is defined as a new paradigm that leverages and strengthens the emotional bonds between a person and a brand. According to the 2017 report, top ranked intimate brands continued to outperform the S&P and Fortune 500 indices in revenue and profit over the past 10 years.

The media & entertainment industry is the second most intimate according to the study, climbing to this spot from number five in 2015. The most intimate media & entertainment brands in the U.S. following Disney and Netflix are: Nintendo, Xbox, HBO, YouTube, Amazon, PlayStation, WWE and Hulu.

“Media & entertainment is surging in popularity in part because of the convenience and flexibility of streaming and video-on-demand. Consumers are becoming more attached to internet-based video services, and one reason in particular is the rising popularity of binge-watching,” stated Mario Natarelli, MBLM’s managing partner. “We also found in 2016, many Americans were not as happy as recent years, perhaps in part due to recent elections. A need for escapism has emerged. It seems people find comfort in entertainment, which also explains the rise in the category.”

Netflix has been the beneficiary of the recent streaming and binge-watching trends, with a 12 percent month-over-month increase in binge-watching among its U.S. users in 2016, and a jump from approximately 75 million subscribers in 2015 to nearly 94 million in 2016. Its expansion to 130 countries and release of 128 original series/films has improved its ability to form more intimate bonds with consumers. Netflix has moved from the tenth spot in the indulgence category to the second, and in ritual, gone from number five to number one since the 2015 study.

This year, other notable media & entertainment findings in the U.S. include:

• Three out of the top 10 overall brands are from this industry – Disney, Netflix and Nintendo – where indulgence is the dominant archetype
• For half of the top 10 most intimate brands in the industry, their primary or secondary focus is video streaming
• The industry ranks highest with those under age 35 and those earning $75,000 a year or less
• Nintendo is the top brand for men, while Disney ranks highest for women, millennials and those 45-64 years old
• The industry ranks high for being difficult to live without

This year’s report contains the most comprehensive rankings of brands based on emotion, analyzing the responses of 6,000 consumers and 54,000 brand evaluations across 15 industries in the U.S., Mexico and UAE. MBLM’s reports and interactive Brand Ranking Tool showcase the performance of almost 400 brands, revealing the characteristics and intensity of the consumer bonds.

To download the full Brand Intimacy 2017 Report or explore the Ranking Tool please visit: http://mblm.com/lab/brandintimacy-study/.