The "Decade of the Brand" opens with 2010. That is the critical finding of the 14th annual Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index conducted by the New York-based brand and customer loyalty and engagement consultancy.
For all 30 brands in the Restaurant/Food Service category tracked in Brand Keys' Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, attributes relating to "brand" and the degree to which brands affect customer decision-making, category-expectations and engagement have increased significantly.
For Brand Keys' 2010 survey, 33,500 consumers 18 to 65 years of age were drawn from the nine U.S. Census Regions. Respondents self-selected the categories in which they are consumers, and the brands for which they are customers. They were interviewed by phone, face-to-face and online.
Brands that received the highest loyalty and engagement assessments for 2010 for quick-service restaurants include some of the biggest, like McDonald's, Subway and Burger King.
"Our 2009 findings predicted that value, not price, was the watchword in consumer behavior," said Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys founder and president. "And you can't have the value conversation without the brand conversation, as true brands provide meaningful differentiation in a world over-run by commodities.
"That makes brands a surrogate for value, and more important than ever to consumers in every category."
QSR brands that received the highest loyalty and engagement assessments for
2010 include:
1. McDonald's2. Subway3. Burger King4. Quiznos5. KFC6. Wendy's7. Hardee's8. Jack In The Box9. Taco Bell
