Young people's behaviour is not always a window into the future: teenagers who stream TV shows, movies, or music for free may graduate to paying customers as their financial fortunes change, for example. But a surprising number of allegiances we develop in our younger years can stay with us as we age.
Research firm Ipsos Canada is examining those allegiances in its latest annual list of the "Most Influential Brands" in Canada, which was revealed on Tuesday at FFWD Advertising and Marketing Week in Toronto. For the first time since Ipsos launched the study in 2011, it has included "Generation Z" in its survey. While clear-cut definitions of generations are dubious, "Gen Z" is another way of talking about the cohort coming up behind the buzzed-about generation known as "Millennials." Gen Z is defined as people aged 13 to 21 right now; because Ipsos does not survey children under 15, its picture is not totally complete, but gives a sense of how brands' influence differs with younger people.
"We all develop our values early in life, and those values guide us in many decisions we make – including the choice of brands," Ipsos chief operating officer Steve Levy said in an interview. "Marketers have to be thinking about the younger generations."
2016’s top 10 brands, ranked by age group
Boomers
Millennials
Overall
Gen X
Gen Z
1
1
YouTube
2
2
Microsoft
3
3
4
4
Apple
Apple
5
Amazon
6
YouTube
7
Walmart
Visa
8
Tim Hortons
9
9
Tim Hortons
CBC
10
10
Amazon
12
Microsoft
14
Walmart
26
Visa
CBC
43
2016’s top 10 brands, ranked by age group
Overall
Boomers
Gen X
Millennials
Gen Z
1
1
YouTube
2
2
Microsoft
3
3
4
4
Apple
Apple
5
Amazon
6
YouTube
7
Walmart
Visa
8
Tim Hortons
9
9
Tim Hortons
CBC
10
10
Amazon
12
Microsoft
14
Walmart
26
Visa
CBC
43
2016’s top 10 brands, ranked by age group
Millennials
Overall
Boomers
Gen X
Gen Z
1
1
YouTube
2
2
Microsoft
3
3
4
4
Apple
Apple
5
Amazon
6
YouTube
7
Walmart
Visa
8
Tim Hortons
9
9
Tim Hortons
CBC
10
10
Amazon
12
Microsoft
14
Walmart
26
Visa
CBC
43
2016’s top 10 brands, ranked by age group
Overall
Boomers
Gen X
Millennials
Gen Z
1
1
YouTube
2
2
Microsoft
3
3
4
4
Apple
Apple
5
Amazon
6
YouTube
7
Walmart
Visa
8
Tim Hortons
9
9
Tim Hortons
CBC
10
10
Amazon
12
Microsoft
14
Walmart
26
Visa
CBC
43
Ipsos surveyed 6,030 Canadians about their attitude toward more than 100 brands – the survey includes those that spend the most on advertising in Canada, as well as some other brands that don't spend as much but that researchers include because they are likely influential – those include Google, Facebook and, for the first time this year, Snapchat.
The survey asks 57 questions to judge "drivers" of a brand's influence, including whether people have interacted with a brand online, whether it is seen as shaping consumer behaviour, whether it is something "you see everywhere," whether it is "dependable," and other considerations. All of these measures are used to calculate the brand influence index, which is measured on an average of 100 – so each brand's influence number shows how much more (or less) influential it is compared to the average. For example, Google, the top brand in the survey for five years running, is about 3.9 times more influential than the average. Facebook is almost 3 times more influential than average.
2016’s top 10 brands by order
of influence, over time
2011
‘12
‘13
‘14
‘15
‘16
Microsoft
1
1
2
2
3
Microsoft
Apple
4
4
Apple
Walmart
5
5
Amazon
CBC
6
6
YouTube
7
7
Walmart
Visa
8
Visa
8
YouTube
9
9
Tim Hortons
10
CBC
Tim
Hortons
15
Amazon
29
2016’s top 10 brands by order of influence, over time
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Microsoft
1
1
2
2
3
Microsoft
Apple
4
4
Apple
Walmart
5
5
Amazon
CBC
6
6
YouTube
7
7
Walmart
Visa
8
Visa
8
YouTube
9
9
Tim Hortons
10
CBC
Tim Hortons
15
Amazon
29
2016’s top 10 brands by order of influence, over time
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Microsoft
1
1
2
2
3
Microsoft
Apple
4
4
Apple
Walmart
5
5
Amazon
CBC
6
6
YouTube
7
7
Walmart
Visa
8
Visa
8
YouTube
9
9
Tim Hortons
10
CBC
Tim Hortons
15
Amazon
29
2016’s top 10 brands by order of influence, over time
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Microsoft
1
1
2
2
3
Microsoft
Apple
4
4
Apple
Walmart
5
5
Amazon
CBC
6
6
YouTube
7
7
Walmart
Visa
8
Visa
8
YouTube
9
9
Tim Hortons
10
CBC
Tim Hortons
15
Amazon
29
"Influence" can be a bit of a muddy concept: some brands may be deemed influential in large part because people interact with them as part of their everyday lives – think Microsoft, Facebook or Google – while others may have very different relationships with consumers. The survey's questions fall under five categories that can contribute to influence. For Facebook, as one example, being "leading edge" was a strong driver of its influence, while for Tim Hortons, that was a much smaller consideration but "presence" was a big driver – the fact that people see it everywhere and that it is an established brand.
Looking at four different generations also indicated a shift in media influence among younger people: while Google is the No. 1 brand for all other age groups, for Gen Z it ranks second behind YouTube, the Google-owned video-sharing service. CBC and the Weather Network both fall within the top 10 only for Boomers; while for younger generations a multiplicity of digital and social media rank higher in influence. For both Millennials and Gen Z, YouTube, Netflix, and Instagram all fall within the top 10 brands. For the youngest survey participants, Twitter and Snapchat both also rank highly. Facebook, meanwhile, scores within the top three among all generations. Moms may be liking and commenting on their kids' Facebook photos more often, but for now that has not diminished the influence of the social media giant.
All data from Ipsos Canada. Graphics by Tom Cardoso.