• by Ted Marzilli , August 7, 2014

YouTube — star-maker, entertainment distributor, quirky pet archive and ad channel, — has topped the positive Buzz rankings with American men this summer. With a BrandIndex Buzz score of 27.4 the Google video brand has edged out Amazon and Subway for top spot during the month of July. 

Although YouTube has frequently featured in our BrandIndex ranking lists, this represents a strong six-point uptick since the same period last year when the video channel was only the fourteenth ranked brand for men. 

YouTube has long established itself as the go-to viral launch location for budding video stars, trailers, TV clips, music videos and is currently receiving over a billion unique global visitors every month. Although the FIFA World Cup end over a month ago, the World Cup content is still generating hits for the newly converted male soccer fans. 

The Men’s top Buzz list for July is dominated by various flavors of media: YouTube, Netflix, and one traditional broadcast network, History Channel all make the men’s Top 10. This summer Netflix started inviting filmmakers to create documentary content specifically for the channel and Sundance hit "The Battered Bastards of Baseball" debuted in mid-July. History Channel’s late spring programing was headlined with “World Wars,” while“Top Gear” returned for season four in July. 

Technology is represented on the men’s top ten by the big two, Samsung and Apple. Number two Amazon.com and home store Lowe’s represent the retail category. Ford is top auto brand. 

Brands appearing on both the women and men’s Top 10 are Netflix, YouTube, Amazon and Subway. Netflix, however, tops the women’s list, which also includes Walgreens and more female-targeted brands like Dawn and Dove. 

For men, the biggest Buzz improver in comparison to the same month in 2013 is Men’s Wearhouse. The brand suffered a dip in perception last summer after founder George Zimmer left the company, but achieved an impressive 19.1-point bounce with men since this time last year. 

Food Network and Carnival both made significant gains after some rocky media events in the last couple of years, however, both these brands also appear on the women’s Top 5 gainers list.

Six Flags and CNN Headline News round out the men’s top gainer lists, although CNN is still in negative perception with an aggregate July score of -10. 

BrandIndex’s Buzz score asks adults "If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?” Buzz scores represent the net sentiment generated across all media for over 1,300 brands in the U.S.