Survey Reveals Top 13 Youth Brands Of The Year

DETROIT (WWJ) - With young Americans expected to spend $211 billion in 2012, knowing which brands they favor will help corporate America prepare for the upcoming holiday season.

A key strategic planning tool at their disposal is the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend® study, which benchmarks the brands that America's youth prefer and those that have the ability to dominate their industries' youth market share.

The 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend study measures brand equity as an outcome of familiarity, quality, and purchase consideration among Americans, ages eight to 24.

"Youth of today have spending power and they also have loyalty to brands. Some of this comes from their parents, but they also make their own decisions," Regina A. Corso, Senior Vice President for Youth and Education Research at Harris Interactive, said in a release.

"Brands who tap into this loyalty when a consumer is a tween, and nurture it through the teen years, will have an extremely loyal customer by the time the customer is a young adult. Companies need to remember that consumers do not magically appear at age 18."

In this critical sales ramp-up for the holiday gift-giving season, when technology prevails and computers, tablets, and mobile phones are at the top of wish lists, Apple brands are ranked highest among Americans, ages 13-24, in their respective categories. Apple Computers, iPads, and iPhones are the highest ranked Computers, Tablets, and Mobile Phones brands, and are followed by Hewlett Packard, Motorola Xoom, and HTC, correspondingly.

And, while eight to 24 year olds have varied interests, certain comfort foods, like cookies and candy, are timeless. For example: Oreo Cookies and Hershey's Milk Chocolate Candy Bars are each highest ranked in their respective categories, and sweet treat and cookie brands receive some of the highest equity scores among those surveyed.

Food & Beverage

• Sweet Treats: Hershey's Milk Chocolate Candy Bars is the highest ranked brand, followed by Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey's Kisses.

• Cereals: Cheerios is the highest ranked brand, followed by Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

• Cookies: Oreo Cookies is the highest ranked brand, followed by three Chips Ahoy cookies brands – Chips Ahoy, Chewy Chips Ahoy and Chunky Chips Ahoy.

• Sodas: Sprite is the highest ranked brand, followed by Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola.

• Fruit Juices: Minute Maid is the highest ranked brand, followed by Tropicana and Florida's Natural Refrigerated Orange Juice.

• Fruit Flavored Drinks: Capri Sun is the highest ranked brand, followed by KoolAid.

Media

• Broadcast TV Networks: ABC is the highest ranked brand, followed by Fox Television Network and CBS.

• Kids TV Programming: Nickelodeon is the highest ranked brand, followed by Disney Channel and Cartoon Network.

• Social Media: YouTube.com is the highest ranked brand, followed by Facebook.com.

Gaming, Technology & Telecom

• Computers: Apple Computers is the highest ranked brand, followed by Hewlett-Packard Computers and Sony Computers

• Computer Tablets: iPad is the highest ranked brand, followed by Motorola Xoom and BlackBerry PlayBook

• Mobile Phones: iPhone is the highest ranked brand, followed by HTC Phones and Samsung Phones

• Gaming Platforms: Nintendo Wii is the highest ranked brand, followed by Sony Playstation 3 and Nintendo DS.

This study was conducted online among 5,077 U.S. consumers ages 8-24 in August 2011. A total of 121 brands were rated among 8-12 year olds and 167 brands among 13-24 year olds.