Survey reveals favourite brands of US and UK women

Marks and Spencer and John Lewis – both time-honoured bricks-and-mortar retailers that have embraced the digital age – took the top two spots in YouGov’s survey of British women, while pharmacy chain Boots also made the list.

In the US, however, the top brand was Band-Aid. Other products from the kitchen and bathroom cupboards to make the list included Clorox, Cheerios and Dawn. Meanwhile Amazon.com took the number two spot, with YouTube coming in at number nine.

In the UK, Marks and Spencer scored particularly well with those aged over 34, while younger women gave high scores to furniture retailer Ikea and ice cream brand Ben and Jerry’s.

The US results painted a very different picture, dominated by household products, with a smattering of online retail – although Amazon’s high showing may have as much to do with its music and video streaming services as much as its online shopping offer.

The only name to make the top ten lists in both countries was toiletries brand Dove.

Among the brands that saw the biggest improvements, Snapchat topped the list in the US and came second (after Tesco) in the UK, reflecting the app’s success in expanding beyond teen messaging to reach new demographics. The improver lists in both countries were dominated by digital brands including Uber, Just Eat, Spotify, Instagram and Trivago.

YouGov said that brands need to “use this positive impression to nurture a long-term customer relationship that enhances good times and helps them through tougher times”.

The results are based on surveys using YouGov’s BrandIndex Impression score, which asks: "Do you have a general positive or negative impression of the brand?"