• by Tanya Gazdik , May 8, 2018

Netflix climbed from third place to the top position in perception research firm YouGov BrandIndex's annual mothers’ ranking of brand health.

The brand, which debuted in the top 10 only last year, swapped places with Amazon, with second place Band-Aid remaining just where it was last year. Netflix is known for its female-centric original programming, including Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Jessica Jones, Grace and Frankie, and GLOW.

Rounding out the top 10 are Nike, Dove personal care, Dawn, Hershey’s, Google, M&Ms and Dove skin care.

Two of Dove’s product lines -- personal care (deodorants, shampoo) and skin care -- appear on the chart for the first time in the fifth and tenth positions. Dove has been an award-winning marketing powerhouse based on its long-running “real beauty” campaign. What makes this victory even more impressive is that Dove overcame its fall 2017 racial controversy involving an ad that showed a black woman turning into a white one.

"There are a small handful of brands which we consider 'Teflon' -- they are so well regarded that bumps in the road and crises have a lesser effect,” YouGov BrandIndex CEO Ted Marzilli tells Marketing Daily. “The debut of two Dove lines into the top 10 seems to signal that they have taken on Teflon qualities -- they were able to overcome releasing an ad last fall that many people deemed racist."

The improvers ranking is a way to check which way the wind is blowing, he notes. 

“Uber getting on stronger footing with mothers, the ubiquitous of classic brands such as Johnson's Baby products and Country Time lemonade, and the early growth of German discount grocery chain Aldi all caught my eye about what is to come,” Marzilli says,

M&Ms jumped from number 14 last year to number 9. Other brands with the biggest health gains by mothers since one year ago include Uber, Johnson’s Baby products, Amazon Alexa, Aveeno, Aldi, Country Trim, Neutrodgena, Folgers, Copperton and Google Home.

Chocolate has a bigger presence in 2018: last year, M&Ms replaced Hershey’s on the Top 10 chart; now they are both on it, in the numbers seven and nine spots. Of the new entries, Uber made the biggest jump with mothers, perhaps based on the convenience factor shuttling back and forth to activities. Also of note is the appearance of German-owned grocery store chain Aldi, which has been aggressively opening up stores across the U.S.

YouGov BrandIndex filtered its entire 1,600+ brand universe for women with children under 18 years old. The brands were then ranked using its flagship Index score, which measures brand health by averaging sub-scores on Quality, Satisfaction, Impression, Value, Reputation and willingness to Recommend. The Index score can range from 100 to -100 with a zero score equaling a neutral position.