News & Announcements
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Branding Study By Copernicus Makes Startling Finding: Most Products and Service Brands Becoming More Similar Than Different
Results Summary Tables
January 1, 2001, Newton, Massachusetts
In a comprehensive branding study, Copernicus studied 51 different product and service categories, asking consumers if they perceived the leading brands as becoming more similar over time or different. Considering the millions of dollars companies spend on branding each year, consumer response startled Copernicus.
Read an overview of the results of the branding study and review the results summary tables below.
You can download a PDF copy of the Copernicus branding study, "The Commoditization of Brands and Its Implications for Marketers," or send an email to ami.bowen@copernicusmarketing.com.
Copernicus Branding Study:
Similarity Scores of Leading Brands*
|
Pairs
of Leading Brands
|
Similarity
Score
|
|
Credit
cards: Visa/Mastercard
|
45
|
|
Office
Supply Stores: Staples/Office Depot
|
40
|
|
Online
Pet Food & Supplies: Pets.com/Petsmart.com
|
38
|
|
Hair
Care Products: L'Oreal/Clairol
|
37
|
|
Online
Reference Sites: Maps.com/MapQuest.com
|
37
|
|
Catalog
Clothing Brands: L.L. Bean/Land's End
|
36
|
|
Pet
Supply Stores: Petsmart/PetCo
|
34
|
|
Gas
Stations: Mobil/Shell
|
34
|
|
Bookstores:
Barnes & Noble/Borders
|
34
|
|
Bottled
Water: Aquafina/Evian
|
32
|
|
Major
Household Appliances: Whirlpool/GE
|
30
|
|
Banks:
Citibank/Bank of America
|
30
|
|
Cookies:
Chips Ahoy/Chips Deluxe
|
28
|
|
Airlines:
United/American
|
28
|
|
Health
& Fitness Clubs: Bally's/Gold's Gym
|
28
|
|
Athletic
Shoes: Nike/Adidas
|
27
|
|
Long-Distance
Telephone Service: At&T/MCI
|
27
|
|
Online
Toy Stores: ToysRUs.com/eToys.com
|
25
|
|
Cars:
Toyota/Honda
|
23
|
|
Weight
Loss Programs: Jenny Craig/Weight Watchers
|
22
|
|
Internet
Service Providers: America Online/AT&T WorldNet
|
22
|
|
Online
Bookstores: Amazon.com/BarnesandNobles.com
|
21
|
|
Personal
Computers: IBM/Compaq
|
21
|
|
TV
Networks: NBC/CBS
|
20
|
|
Cosmetics:
Revlon/Cover Girl
|
18
|
|
Rental
Cars: Enterprise/Hertz
|
18
|
|
Brokerages:
Merrill Lynch/Fidelity
|
17
|
|
Internet
Search Engines: Yahoo/MSN
|
17
|
|
Potato
Chips: Lay's/Ruffles
|
16
|
|
Diapers:
Huggies/Pampers
|
16
|
|
Toothpaste:
Colgate/Crest
|
15
|
|
Motor
Oils: Mobil/Pennzoil
|
15
|
|
Department
Stores: Sears/J.C. Penney
|
14
|
|
Home
Entertainment Equipment: Hitachi/Sony
|
13
|
|
Laundry
Detergents: Tide/All
|
11
|
|
Cars:
Mercedes-Benz/BMW
|
9
|
|
Beer:
Bud Light/Coors Light
|
9
|
|
Online
Travel Sites: Travelocity.com/PriceLine.com
|
8
|
|
Headache
Remedies: Tylenol/Advil
|
6
|
|
Cigarettes:
Marlboro/Camel
|
4
|
|
Newspapers:
Wall Street Journal/NY Times
|
2
|
|
Beer:
Budweiser/Miller
|
1
|
|
Diet
Colas: Diet Coke/Diet Pepsi
|
-1
|
|
Cars:
Chevrolet/Ford
|
-3
|
|
Religions:
Catholic/Protestant
|
-7
|
|
Cola:
Coke/Pepsi
|
-7
|
|
Soap:
Dove/Dial
|
-9
|
|
Political
Parties: Democrat/Republican
|
-11
|
|
Average
Score
|
18
|
*More positive values indicate increasing similarity between brands
Copernicus Branding Study:
Similarity Scores for Brands in Product and Service Categories*
|
Product
and Service Categories
|
Similarity
Scores
|
|
Credit
Cards
|
37
|
|
Office
Supply Stores Bottled Water
|
36
|
|
Bookstores
|
35
|
|
Discount
Stores
|
34
|
|
Fast
Food Restaurants
|
33
|
|
Banks
|
33
|
|
Catalog
Clothing
|
29
|
|
Long-Distance
Telephone Service
|
28
|
|
Internet
Service Providers
|
28
|
|
Weight
Loss Programs
|
27
|
|
Pet
Supply Stores
|
27
|
|
Health
& Fitness Clubs
|
27
|
|
TV
Networks
|
27
|
|
Gas
Stations
|
26
|
|
Department
Stores
|
25
|
|
Major
Household Appliances (e.g. refrigerators)
|
24
|
|
Diapers
|
24
|
|
Internet
Search Engines
|
24
|
|
Rental
Cars
|
24
|
|
Athletic
Shoes
|
23
|
|
Soaps
|
23
|
|
Airlines
|
22
|
|
Wireless
or Cellular Phone Services
|
22
|
|
Newspapers
|
22
|
|
Laundry
Detergents
|
21
|
|
Personal
Computers
|
21
|
|
Motor
Oils
|
20
|
|
Hair
Care Products
|
20
|
|
Luxury
Foreign Cars Cars
|
19
|
|
Cookies
|
19
|
|
Toothpastes
|
19
|
|
Potato
Chips
|
18
|
|
Cosmetics
|
18
|
|
Mid-priced
American Cars
|
18
|
|
Mid-priced
Foreign Cars
|
18
|
|
Luxury
American Cars
|
18
|
|
Household
Cleansers
|
17
|
|
Headache
Remedies
|
15
|
|
Auto
Insurance
|
15
|
|
Cold
Cereals
|
15
|
|
Hotels
|
15
|
|
Spaghetti
Sauces
|
14
|
|
Home
Entertainment Equipment
|
13
|
|
Beers
|
12
|
|
Cigarettes
|
10
|
|
Colas
|
10
|
|
Liquor
|
7
|
|
Jewelry
|
3
|
|
Different
Christian Denominations
|
1
|
|
Political
Parties
|
-2
|
|
Average
Score
|
21
|
*More positive values indicate increasing similarity between brands
Copernicus Branding Study:
Importance Scores of Price in Purchase Decision**
|
Price
vs. Brand
|
Price
Importance Score
|
|
Online
Bookstore
|
48
|
|
Rental
Car Company
|
45
|
|
Office
Supply Store
|
41
|
|
Bookstore
|
40
|
|
Bottled
Water
|
40
|
|
Pet
Supply Store
|
39
|
|
Gas
Station
|
39
|
|
Long-Distance
Telephone Provider
|
33
|
|
Health
and Fitness Club
|
31
|
|
Household
Cleansers
|
27
|
|
Wireless
or Cellular Phone Provider
|
26
|
|
Jewelry
|
26
|
|
Airline
for Leisure Travel
|
25
|
|
Hotel
for Leisure Travel
|
25
|
|
Internet
Service Provider (ISP)
|
22
|
|
Catalog
Clothing
|
21
|
|
Auto
Insurance Company
|
21
|
|
Hair
Care Products
|
20
|
|
Cookies
|
16
|
|
Cold
Cereal
|
15
|
|
Laundry
Detergent
|
15
|
|
Athletic
Shoes
|
13
|
|
Spaghetti
Sauces
|
12
|
|
Fast
Food Restaurants
|
11
|
|
Cosmetics
|
9
|
|
Toothpaste
|
7
|
|
Cigarette
|
5
|
|
Home
Entertainment Equipment
|
4
|
|
Headache
Remedy
|
3
|
|
Motor
Oil
|
2
|
|
Major
Household Appliances
|
1
|
|
Brokerage
|
0
|
|
Personal
Computer
|
-3
|
|
Cola
|
-3
|
|
Automobile
|
-5
|
|
Liquor
|
-6
|
|
Beer
|
-11
|
|
Average
Score
|
18
|
**More positive values indicate price outweighs brand considerations