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Trader Joe's, Great Value 'Most Loved Brands'

Trader Joe’s and Walmart’s Great Value are the “most loved brands,” offline and online respectively, based on positive conversations and referrals, according to Engagement Labs. 

Consumer conversations changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the company’s fourth annual TotalSocial Brand Awards.

Everyday categories such as beauty and personal care, video games, and household cleaning products took on new importance and shifted consumer needs as time spent at home surged and amid quarantine mode for many Americans.

Carter’s joined Trader Joe’s in rocketing up the list of brands most positively talked about in offline conversations, ahead of more than 650 brands across all consumer categories. Other top brands on the offline list include Nintendo Switch (which last year led offline), Oreo, Dove, Minecraft, Lego, Lipton, Dove Men+Care and Nivea. 

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Online, American Family insurance, which topped last year’s list held the number two spot this year. Others in the top 10 are Kirkland, Dove, Garnier Fructis, KitchenAid, Clean & Clear, Frigidaire, Clinique and Fabuloso.

The beauty and personal care category stood out for high net sentiment online and offline. Unilever’s Dove claims special notice as the only brand to rank among brands both online and offline during the COVID-19 era. 

Dove’s improvement in online brand love grew more than any other top 10 brand. This reflected Dove’s focus on campaigns that resonated to women everywhere and providing a platform for impactful conversations on social and racial justice in America. Dove has a long tradition of campaigns that are engaging both online and offline since its provocative landmark Real Beauty campaign, and 2020 was no exception, per Engagement Labs.

Notably, despite the pandemic and a polarized political climate, consumers continued to talk about brands, said Engagement Labs CEO Ed Keller.

“To be successful in this new era, marketers must be part of the consumer conversation, which is predictive of long-term brand value, in addition to sales,” Keller says in a release. “Marketers need to have unique strategies for positive engagement and consumer conversation online vs. offline to drive better brand and business outcomes.”

The analysis ranks the most loved brands based on net positive conversations happening online (via social media) and offline (via face-to-face conversations as well as phone, emailing, texting, IM’ing, video chat (any channel other than posting on social media) to determine its annual TotalSocial Brand Awards winners.

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