• by Tanya Gazdik , May 11, 2017

Netflix, Nike, Google, Hershey’s and YouTube are the newcomers to the list of the top 10 best-perceived brands by mothers, according to YouGov BrandIndex. 

Other top 10 finishers are Amazon, Band-Aid, Dawn, Samsung and Cheerios. Off the top 10 list: Johnson & Johnson, M&M's, Clorox, Skechers, and Black & Decker.

Venerable brands can have difficulty staying on top if they don't play their cards right, said YouGov BrandIndex CEO Ted Marzilli.

“This is truly hand-to-hand combat between brands to win the hearts of moms,” Marzilli tells Marketing Daily. “You can never be complacent because somebody is always looking to take your place.”

Skechers was replaced by Nike and M&M's was replaced by Hershey, he notes. 

“The other part that caught us off guard were the significant perception gains of two budget hotel chains, Motel 6 and Super 8,” he says. “If moms truly hold the purse strings in the family, they seem to be very money-conscious when they hit the road.”

The 10 biggest brand gainers in perception by mothers since Mother's Day one year ago are TLC, T-Mobile, Super 8 Motels, Delta, and The Honest Company. 

“Hats off to actress Jessica Alba,” Marzilli says. “Usually, celebrities are endorsing companies or investing in them, but in her case, The Honest Company is legitimately her baby, and it's clearly gaining traction with mothers. She may end up being a case study for celebrities who really want to launch a business and succeed.”

One trend YouGov has noticed over the past four years is the disappearance of tool brands on the top 10, he says. 

“In 2013, Craftsman was the number one best-perceived brand by mothers,” Marzilli says. “Last year, Craftsman wasn't on the list, but Black & Decker was. It seemed we were in a period of DIY Moms. Now there are no brands from this sector in the top 10, and others have moved in, notably from the Internet, like Netflix, YouTube, and Google.”

"Amazon has practically had a lock on the top of all our perception rankings for the past two years," Marzilli says. “They are like the Terminator -- they just don't stop, they just keep innovating, and moving ahead. A few of the biggest gainers represent bounce-backs from brands in problems or crises, such as Chipotle and Delta.”

Johnson & Johnson has been subject to many lawsuits linking talcum powder and cancer over the past two years, and that has really hurt them, Marzilli says. Not all lawsuits can sink a brand, but some cut very close to home, especially when it involves illness, he notes.

“You have to hand it to Samsung for staying in the top 10, despite a huge crisis of their Galaxy Note 6 blowing up last fall,” Marzilli says. “Their brand has still not fully recovered by our measures, but they acted quickly enough and came out with a well-reviewed replacement that they were able to regain their footing.” 

YouGov Brand Index used its centerpiece score, Index, which gives the best indication of brand health. It is one average made up of six sub-scores: Quality, Value, Satisfactions, Impression, Reputation, and Recommend to Friend. It took all 1,500 brands that it tracks daily and crunched all the scores to come up with this complete list.