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Apple has retained its position as the UK’s top storytelling brand - closely followed by Macmillan (2nd) and new entry National Trust (3rd) - according to new research revealed today by brand storytelling agency AESOP in association with 3Gem Research.
The 2015 Brand Storytelling report, now in its third year, has revealed mixed fortunes for many of the UK’s leading brands. The survey that polled 2,800 UK consumers in October has seen Cadbury, McDonald’s, Walkers and Coca-Cola drop out of the top 10 to be replaced by the BBC (4th), Xbox (5th), Cancer Research (6th) and Samsung Electronics (7th). The Aesop Brand Storytelling research top 10 is completed by Playstation (8th), Google (9th) and Facebook (10th).
“As ever, those brands with a strong sense of mission do well in our storytelling survey. Their purposes for being make their narratives heroic and their storytelling clear and compelling. Those brands that have lost a sense of who they are and why they exist have taken a tumble ," said Ed Woodcock, director of narrative, Aesop.
"Social media brands, which are platforms for other people’s stories, score highly against storytelling criteria, although they may benefit from some borrowed credit for the content generated by their users,” said Woodcock.
For the first time since the inaugural study in 2013, a UK supermarket fails to feature in the top 20. Marks & Spencer is the top-performing grocer coming in at 22nd with Morrisons picking up the wooden spoon and dropping out of the top 100 at 111.
Morrisons polled only 18% of the votes and scored poorly against a number of categories with only 13% of respondents citing the retailer as a brand they ‘feel an emotional connection with’. Morrisons is also struggling to be remembered with just 15% of UK consumers stating the supermarket as producing content that is ‘memorable’.
Lidl is this year’s retail storytelling success story. A new entry at 29 the budget supermarket brand polled 26% of the votes - ranking higher than Tesco (51st), Sainsbury’s (79th) and Asda (87th).
The German retailer that launched its hugely successful #LIDLSURPRISES campaign by TBWA in 2014 is a brand considered to possess ‘vision and purpose’ - polling an impressive one-third of the votes (33%) and the top performing supermarket brand in the category.
Tesco, the UK’s biggest supermarket brand, has recorded steady storytelling decline, the study found. The supermarket’s problems have been well documented - in April it suffered the biggest loss ever on the UK high street - and its refocus on the ‘every little helps’ strapline is an attempt to restore customer trust.
In 2013 the retailer achieved a top 20 ranking at 13th dropping 14 places to 27th in 2014. This year Tesco has dropped 24 places and out of the top 50 with a ranking of 51st - one place behind Durex and one ahead of easyjet.
“ Tesco has been in free fall on our survey. Of the big four, it is the one that has most lost its sense of purpose, and this is reflected in opinion about it," said Woodcock. “If the company is to resurrect ‘Every Little Helps’, it can’t just be a strap line, but a heartfelt reappraisal of what they really mean by it these days.
"Aldi and Lidl, by contrast, know exactly who they are, whom they serve and where they are going, with characterful comms that reinforce their distinct role in consumers lives.”
The 2015 Brand Storytelling study also revealed that UK brands are failing to establish an emotional connection with the consumer.
When asked to cite brands that the UK consumer feels an emotional connection with, only 20 brands scored 20% or more with charities leading the emotional charge - with Macmillan taking the top spot polling 35% of the votes. Heritage confectionery brand Cadbury, whilst taking a tumble down the overall rankings, is still a brand UK consumers hold in affection. Polling more than one-quarter (28%) of the votes in this category - Cadbury’s ranking of 5th is the confectioners best showing across all categories.
