April 20, 2024

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Samsung landed in 12th place on an annual US survey to identify the brands with the greatest levels of consumer intimacy -- a big improvement over last year’s No. 17, but still a long way from its peak in 2017, when it was No. 7.

The study, published Feb. 15, showed that the South Korean company fared ahead of US tech giants Google and Microsoft, which respectively ranked 16th and 33rd. Korea’s No. 2 tech company, LG Electronics, finished at No. 67.

Apple, which had retained the No. 1 position on the list for some time, was demoted to second place this year, conceding the top spot to Disney.

The US gadget-maker lost ground due to “well-publicized missteps and consumer gadget fatigue,” explained marketing agency MBLM, which carried out the survey. While the agency did not specify those “missteps,” it was likely referring to the dwindling performance of the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR. Apple also received negative publicity when a battery degradation issue was made public.

Other notable rankings included Amazon, which stood at No. 3, and Netflix at No. 5. PlayStation came in at No. 7, YouTube at No. 8 and Xbox at No. 17.

The annual study ranks companies on their ability to get close to their customers. According to data from the agency, brands that rank high in customer intimacy tend to outperform their rivals in terms of revenue and profit. The top 10 on the MBLM list showed average revenue growth of 8.68 percent from 2008 to 2017, as compared with 3.66 percent for the top 10 Fortune 500 brands.

This year’s study analyzed the responses of 6,200 consumers, who were asked to evaluate 56,000 brands across 15 industries in the US, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)