Member Article

Who are the world's simplest brands?

This is one of the most frequently posed questions by Chief Marketing Officers on their quest to create brand experiences that their customers will reward. Given the barrage of choices consumers face today, savvy leaders know that people value brands that make their lives easier.

To understand which brands provide the simplest experiences, Siegel+Gale surveyed 15,000 people across nine countries. Now in its eighth year, The World’s Simplest Brands (formerly the Global Brand Simplicity Index™) reveals that the top-ranked brands put utility and ease at the heart of the customer experience. Because in today’s complex world, customers are prioritizing simplicity.

1-Netflix Whether you’re vegging out at home or aboard a cross-country red-eye, hosting your own personal Bill Murray retrospective or re-watching all ten seasons of Friends is as easy as reaching for a device, opening the app and pressing Play. In 2018, Netflix invested over $7.5 billion in original content, much to the delight of subscribers—“Netflix originals are some of the best shows I’ve seen in years!” With 130 million users across 190 countries, “Netflix and chill” is virtually universal.

2-ALDI With “easy-to-use” stores and “direct and helpful” information, ALDI understands the real path to its shoppers’ hearts is a stress-free, no-frills shopping experience. People credit the German brand for helping them “save time” as well as its “reasonable prices.” Simple, consistent floorplans plus uncomplicated offers, high-quality products, and excellent customer service, proves that ALDI is determined to give value back to its loyal customers.

3-Google While it’s a radically different world since its launch twenty years ago, Google hasn’t strayed from its original mission. The tech industry may have faced scandals over the past year, but the universally “accessible” brand soldiers on, pushing the boundaries of available technologies to organize the world’s information.

4-Lidl Far from a cookie-cutter supermarket, the German global discount chain revolutionized the in-store experience by mastering efficiency—offering “hassle-free” shopping that gets busy shoppers in and out, and on with their lives. With “friendly customer service” and “straightforward pricing,” customer satisfaction remains a top priority for Lidl.

5-Carrefour French multinational retailer Carrefour pioneered the concept of buying everything from fresh fruit and dry goods to household DIY all under one roof. Shoppers appreciate the brand’s unceasing commitment to “transparency” and “accessibility.” In 2018, Carrefour announced plans to join forces with Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket chain, enabling both brands to improve the quality and choice of products available to customers, at even lower prices.

6-McDonald’s Whether you’re jonesing for a box of McNuggets or an icy cold McFlurry, McDonald’s has made it even simpler to satisfy your cravings. In addition to refining its “easy to recognize” menu, McDonald’s is upgrading its restaurants with self-serve kiosks and table service. Its mobile ordering and payment system continues to expand too, so even couch potatoes can get their french fry fix.

7-Trivago Founded in 2005, trivago “removes the stress” from the online booking process. Travelers can effortlessly search over 1.3 million hotels in over 190 countries to find the ideal hotel at the best rate. Currently operating on 55 live international platforms in 33 languages, finding a place to rest your weary head has never been “easier.”

8-Spotify With a library boasting more than 20 million songs, Spotify is a fan favorite for its consistency and dedication to innovation. Audiophiles applaud having “all the music I like in one place.” Recently, the service added a new perk to its subscription tier, Spotify Premium for Students, which provides access to Premium music as well as streaming services from Showtime and Hulu, offering a complete world of sound and vision at an “unprecedented value.”

9-Uniqlo Named after a compound of “unique” and “clothing,” Uniqlo has established itself as a fashion empire with 1,300+ stores worldwide. With a philosophy rooted in Japanese values of simplicity, quality, and longevity, Uniqlo creates apparel to make your life better. But don’t mistake “reliable, simple designs” for boring—Uniqlo has a long history of successful streetwear collaborations, including collections with Jil Sander and The Andy Warhol Foundation.

10-Subway Praised for its “clear menus”, “quick-service” and made-to-order sandwiches, Subway continues to make strides in simplicity. As part of an ongoing brand refresh, the restaurant chain unveiled “Fresh Now,” a new program emphasizing a more personalized guest experience. Investing $80 million in the program, Subway aims to update all of its 26,000 U.S. locations by next summer.

With simplifying customer experiences as a core tenet, the top-performing global brands are continually changing consumer expectations, too.

In order to deliver simple experiences, they exhibit five key behaviours—they empower people: sidestepping traditional industry protocols and shifting the power to consumers; they reimagine experiences: turning underwhelming experiences into moments of delight; they remove friction: identifying pain points in everyday processes and removing them; they save time: valuing people’s time by providing services to them where and when they need it most; and they provide utility: delivering services that customers find inherently useful.

These acclaimed brands are writing the book on simplicity. If you are looking to simplify, take a page from the best.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Margaret Molloy .