The top 10 simplest and most complex brands—Whole Foods rises while X falls

Grocers Lidl and Whole Foods top a new ranking of the simplest brands globally and in the U.S., while X (formerly known as Twitter) was listed as the most complex brand in the states, a sign that consumers are unclear on the platform’s purpose. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs The findings come from Siegel+Gale’s latest “World’s Simplest Brands” report, which surveyed more than 15,000 respondents in nine countries on how brands made their lives simpler or more complex, with simpler being a positive trait. “Typically what we’ve seen in simplest brands is that they promise a good experience and deliver on it,” said Brian Rafferty, global director of analytics and insights at Siegel+Gale, a global brand experience firm. (Click image enlarge) (Click image enlarge) Whole Foods seems to have achieved this, ranking as the simplest brand in the U.S. this year, up from 18th last year. Despite being seen as a more expensive or niche grocery chain, respondents surveyed at the beginning of the summer rated Whole Foods as simple because the chain makes it easier for them to make healthy choices, and in some cases, offers deals to achieve those healthy choices, according to Rafferty. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Whole Foods Market (@wholefoods) German grocery chain Lidl took the top slot globally, up from third last year, keeping its place in the top 10 globally for the last five years. Lidl is known for its bare-bones stores with consistently cheap, but good, groceries, and rotating seasonal items (similar to the Aldi Finds aisle). Also read: Top marketers, brands and agency companies ranked Lidl and Whole Foods “do shop and delight well,” said Rafferty. “Consumers know that if they shop there, they’ll likely find something surprising or a premium product at a good price, so they’re happy to keep coming back. Lidl and Whole Foods deliver on their promise of cheap groceries or healthy options, but also some fun finds, which delights customers.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lidl US (@lidlus) In the U.S., the U.S. Postal Service came in second, followed by Lyft, UPS, Burger King, Dunkin’, Trader Joe’s, Amazon (which owns Whole Foods and was last year’s top-ranking brand in the U.S.), Old Navy and Google. Globally, Google ranked as the second simplest brand, followed by Amazon, Aldi, Samsung, 7-Eleven, McDonald’s, Uniqlo, the Japanese convenience store Family Mart and Burger King. 7-Eleven, Family Mart and Burger King are new to the top ten global brands by simplicity this year. The importance of trust for social media X fell from No. 104 last year to No. 142 this year, putting it dead last (and making it the most complex brand in the U.S.). The drop came after Twitter rebranded to X under the ownership of Elon Musk, who has faced scrutiny among advertisers for how the platform handles brand safety. But Rafferty says all social platforms are dealing with consumer trust issues. Facebook (134), LinkedIn (139) and TikTok (140) also fell in the bottom 10 of the report in the U.S. Also read: Twitter users don’t want to call it X “It’s not because of the user interface or even user experience, but people don’t trust what they see on the platforms,” Rafferty said. “We do see a big correlation between simplicity and trust. It goes back to delivering on what they promise. When brands are seen as complex, consumers feel that this is on purpose, that the brand is trying to confuse them because it cannot be trusted.” He added that, “for social media, platforms really took a hit from ‘fake news’ and spreading false information.” CNN (133), Humana (135), Turo (136), Comcast/Xfinity (137), Fox News (138) and DirectTV (141) also fell in the bottom 10 in the U.S. Insurance company Aviva was ranked as the most complex company globally. Other complex companies included rental car company Budget, budget airline Ryanair, X, British broadcaster Sky, IBIS hotels and health insurance company Buba, according to the survey. Consumers often feel taken advantage of, or tricked by the media, car rental companies and insurance firms, according to the report. “Car rentals and insurance—these are things that should be straightforward, or give you peace of mind, but customers often have a bad experience,” Rafferty said. Streaming needs to be simplified For consumers, streaming services are becoming more and more complex. Hulu (31st), Netflix (39th) and Disney+ (77th) all fell in this year’s U.S. survey after being in the top 10 last year. Rafferty noted that the streamers did well during the height of the pandemic as a safe, easy form of entertainment. But the proliferation of platforms, combined with password crackdowns and confusing names are straining consumers, according to Rafferty. “Many consumers gave up cable and turned to streaming, but now to watch anything, they need several streaming subscriptions piecemealed together,” Rafferty said. “The landscape has become too fragmented, and similar names for different apps does not help.” Sixty-four percent of people are willing to pay more for simpler brand experiences, and 78% of people are more likely to recommend a brand for its simpler experiences and communications, the survey found. DEI and ESG The report also found that consumers find brand diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) communications to be too complex—even though consumers care more about the topics than in past years. Only 37% of respondents said they understood surveyed brands’ DEI programs in general, while 42% said they understood brands’ ESG programs. And yet, 60% of consumers said they were more likely to purchase from a brand because of their demonstrated DEI commitment, and that number rose to 64% for ESG commitments. Rafferty pointed out that these topics often fall along demographic and political affiliations, with some consumers seeing DEI and ESG as negatives. These programs can also take time to develop or are not widely publicized, leaving consumers to think little or no action is being taken. “Brands may not be communicating well on certain initiatives and outcomes, or are seen as greenwashing,” Rafferty said. “Those goals can take a long time, or involve more behind-the-scenes efforts not seen at the consumer level.”

The top 10 simplest and most complex brands—Whole Foods rises while X falls

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