Meta was the fastest-growing brand of 2022—at least in terms of purchase consideration measured by Morning Consult Brand Intelligence, based on tracking surveys of thousands of consumers.
That’s the surprising good news for a company that’s had plenty of bad news, including a 61% plunge in its stock price in the past year. And Meta’s performance comes with plenty of caveats, even within the Morning Consult data.
Economic concerns also drove packaged food brands this year. DiGiorno, for example, likely was driven by the rising cost of pizza delivery, and Stok cold brew coffee by the rising cost of Starbucks, said Joanna Piacenza, head of industry intelligence for Morning Consult. Walmart’s Great Value cream cheese, Gatorade Fit, Häagen-Dazs, Frito-Lay, Chobani Smooth Yogurt and the Chobani master brand all cracked the top 20 overall. DiGiorno came in No. 3, Kraft Barbecue Sauce at No. 10, Perrier at No. 12, and Unilever’s Magnum ice cream No. 14 for millennials. Heinz came in at No. 15 for Gen Z. Doritos, Smuckers and 3 Musketeers made the top 20 for Gen X. And Coca-Cola, Cheerios, Yoplait and Bisquick made the top 20 for boomers.
While purchase intent broadly was weighed down by rising costs, one exception is travel, where demand pent up by pandemic restrictions appears to have lifted a number of travel brands for younger consumers. Breeze, Gaylord Hotels, J.W. Marriott and Homes & Villas by Marriott were all brands among the top 20 gainers for Gen Z. Intercontinental Hotels came in at No. 18 for millennials.
Still, the biggest surprise is Meta’s performance against some serious counter-currents.
“What’s interesting with Meta is that it’s fighting against two kind of negative aspects connected to its brand,” Piacenza said. “Its parent brand, Facebook, has a really dim outlook among the public, and it has a controversial CEO, which our research shows typically does not do well for a brand.”
But she believes public interest in the metaverse was enough to help offset the negatives.
Perhaps more concerning for Meta is that Discord scored well on the Gen Z list, and YouTube Shorts scored well among boomers. The latter, Piacenza said, follows a pattern where brands that have been strong with Gen Z or millennials in years past show up for older generations in subsequent years. That same phenomenon explains why Shein ranked high among Gen X this year after growth with younger consumers in the past.
Related: Shein is one of Ad Age's Hottest Brands
One reason Meta's recognition and purchase consideration grew so fast was that the brand was only launched late last year by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. And its strength in the Morning Consult data came primarily from baby boomers and Generation X rather than younger consumers. But Piacenza said Meta's Gen Z numbers were good but came from a sample below the 200-person minimum the firm requires for statistical significance. Overall, data in the report come from between 200 to over 27,000 responses per brand.
Besides Meta, 2022 was also a good year for Crocs, Beats and Stok, which rounded out the top four growth brands in the survey and fared better than Meta among younger consumers.
But it was a bad year for brands overall. Purchase intent on average declined 1.37 percentage points per brand. Piacenza attributes that to rising prices leading people to pull back on spending plans.
Economic worries also played a role in value brands and propositions faring very well across categories, Piacenza said. Walmart’s Great Value private label, Boost Mobile, Roku (an ad-supported alternative to streaming subscriptions), airline Breeze and fast fashion retailer Shein were among top gainers overall or on generational lists.
