Institute of Communication Agencies Releases Canada’s 100 Most Influential Brands

Earlier this week, Canada’s most influential brands were announced at day two of FFWD: Advertising and Marketing Week 2016 in Toronto.

The list was compiled by the Institute of Communication Agencies (ICA, www.icacanada.ca) in partnership with Ipsos (www.ipsos.ca). It’s the result of their study that evaluates 100+ brands that spend the most on advertising in Canada and ranks their influence. The study was also conducted in 20 other countries in 2015.

The country’s heavy-hitting brands continue to represent a combination of digital service/social media, technology, retail, and credit card brands (you know, all the daily essentials).

brands

The Most Influential Brands study examines five key dimensions that define and determine the most influential brands in Canada by an influence index:  leading edge, trustworthiness, presence, corporate citizenship, and engagement.

What most of these brands have in common is the frequency with which many are used, resulting in them being so firmly engrained in day-to-day life.  That’s why it’s not exactly surprising that Google retained its number one position for the fourth year. The second ranking spot went to Apple, which was up two spots from last year. The new addition to this year’s Top 10 is Amazon, up from number 11 last year.

Naturally, a handful of differences were found to exist by generation. Not surprisingly, millennials (born during 1982-1996) scored tech and social brands highest, with the addition of Netflix, Pay Pal and Instagram to their top 10 ranking, and excluded Walmart and Tim Hortons. Gen Xers (born during 1965-1981) ranked Walmart highest (#5) of all cohorts. Boomers (born during 1946-1964) ranked Microsoft more influential than Apple, and included CBC and Canadian Tire in their Top 10.

The study ranks brands according to their influence and within each of 21 countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Russia, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UK and the USA.  In Canada, this year’s study polled more than 6,000 respondents.

The Most Influential Brands study was conducted in December 2015.  The online survey of 6,006 adult residents of Canada was conducted using the Ipsos iSay Panel.