It is difficult to watch or read the news without hearing about political divisions in the US. Whether
they’re talking Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, or the Green Party, there seems to be a lot
of disagreement out there. However, we here at MSW●ARS Research have discovered factions you
may not have even known existed until now – with consumer categories. As a fun repurposing of the
data we collect using our Brand Strength Monitor platform, we are getting to the bottom of
this – one category at a time.
Throughout the 2016 US Presidential Election season we’re sharing some “voting” results. Instead of the
traditional red state/blue state/swing state format, we’re looking at “voting” results for some of
the more than 60 categories on The Brand Strength Monitor Dashboard to determine which brand would
win an election versus its category competitors.
Instead of simply looking at the “popular vote” across thousands of respondents, we decided it would
be a lot of fun to look at results by state Electoral College votes – similar to how the US actually
elects its president every four years.
Thus far, we have included maps for the following categories:
This week, the category is Blue Jeans (Men’s and Women’s).
Unfortunately for their competitors, there really is not a great way to sugarcoat it – Levi’s currently owns this category – and their results among both Women and Men further indicate this is the case. That said, the landslide victory among Women is less of a landslide than that seen with Men, so we will start with Women first:
For Women:
- Levi’s wins 467 electoral votes out of a possible 538 – including wins in 36 of the 50 states (plus Washington DC).
- Levi’s comes on top in every state owning more than ten electoral votes except Indiana, which is part of the reason why their electoral victory is such a landslide.
- One of the states with the highest margin of victory is California, by far the most populous state in the nation (owning 55 electoral votes), so Levi’s is able to rack up their margin of victory there.
- Levi’s has a clean sweep of the South, the West Coast, and the Mid-Atlantic (sans Delaware’s three votes).
- The largest area of opportunity appears to be in the middle of the country where other brands win states such as Colorado, Iowa, Utah, Nebraska, etc.
- Though Levi’s currently owns this category, things could look a LOT different years from now as Millennials are gravitating toward other brands (and away from Levi’s) at very strong rates. Millennials are tending to flock toward some of Levi’s closest competitors, which could lead to this landslide eroding especially in future “elections.”
- American Eagle comes in a distant second with wins in Indiana, Utah, and Alaska totaling 20 electoral votes. However, they are the biggest benefactor of the Millennial shift, so this second place position could elevate as time goes on.
- Even now, AE’s 20 electoral votes actually understate their popular vote as they achieve over half of Levi’s total – the problem is that AE is usually in second or third place and only wins three states.
- Faded Glory wins third place with wins in Colorado and Iowa totaling 15 electoral votes. Lee is fourth place with wins in Nebraska, North Dakota, and New Hampshire. Lucky Brand pulls out victories in Kansas and Rhode Island to secure ten electoral votes and fifth place. Aeropostale also wins two states totaling eight electoral votes. True Religion and Calvin Klein each secure one win a piece for four and three electoral votes, respectively.
The brands included in the Women’s Blue Jeans exercise are:
- Levi’s
- American Eagle Outfitters
- Lee
- Other
- Gloria Vanderbilt
- Calvin Klein
- Aeropostale
- Lucky Brand
- Faded Glory
- True Religion
- Guess
- Wrangler
- Versace
- DKNY
- Ann Taylor
- Armani
- Dickies
- L.L. Bean
- Tommy Hilfiger
- Seven7
- White Stag
- Jordache
- Wallflower
- Diesel
- Eddie Bauer
- Allegra K
- No Boundaries
- Joe’s
- Hudson
- J-Brand
- Rampage
- Virgin
- Level 99
- Red Engine
For Men:
- Levi’s wins 510 electoral votes out of a possible 538 – including wins in 45 of the 50 states (plus Washington DC). Especially for the Men’s category, it would take all day to go through each and every one of Levi’s strengths, so we will call out specific ones we found the most interesting:
- Levi’s wins by large margins across the country, which includes ~20+ point wins in Arizona (Southwest), Washington (Northwest), Missouri (Midwest), New Jersey (Northeast), and Georgia (South).
- They also win California by 15 points and Texas by 12 points. Given their large populations, these two wins add even more to the margin of victory for Levi’s.
- However, even with a landslide win in this current election, we would not be telling the whole story if we did not point out that Levi’s loses the most preference of any brand when going from Non-Millennials to Millennials. As we mentioned with the Women’s category, this shift could mean a different winner in future years – even with Levi’s current dominance.
- In a distant second place is the
Calvin Klein
- Calvin Klein narrowly pulls out a win in Virginia, which is by far the largest state NOT to go to Levi’s, by roughly half a percentage point.
- Wrangler pulls out third place with victories in the interior western states of Nebraska and Wyoming for a total of eight electoral votes.
- brand of Blue Jeans. They are able to win two states and total 17 electoral votes.
- They also narrowly lose the neighboring states of Idaho and South Dakota – further indicating their preference among residents of this part of the country.
- Their strengths are not limited to just one region though, as they put up impressive numbers in the South and Northeast as well.
- In fourth place is Carhartt with a very convincing win in Vermont. Normally we would chalk up a lone win in a small base size state like Vermont as a statistical anomaly, though the margin by which Carhartt wins makes it seem like there may be something here. The win puts them on the board with three electoral votes.
The brands included in the Men’s Blue Jeans exercise are:
- Levi’s
- American Eagle Outfitters
- Wrangler
- Calvin Klein
- Lee
- Aeropostale
- Dickies
- Armani
- Diesel
- Carhartt
- Other
- Faded Glory
- L.L. Bean
- True Religion
- Nautica
- Lucky Brand
- Eddie Bauer
- Rustler
- South Pole
- Roca Wear
- Antique Rivet
- DKNY
- Joe’s
- Hudson
- J-Brand
- Globe
MSW●ARS is already tracking this data for the following categories. Let us know if you see
one you are interested in, or if you would like us to begin tracking your category:
- Antiperspirants/Deodorants (Women)
- Antiperspirants/Deodorants (Men)
- Analgesics, Internal
- Athletic Shoes (Women)
- Athletic Shoes (Men)
- Auto Insurance
- Bank Services
- Bar Soap
- Bathroom Tissue
- Bleach or Laundry Whiteners
- Blue Jeans (Women)
- Blue Jeans (Men)
- Body Lotions (Women)
- Body Lotions (Men)
- Bottled Water
- Breakfast Bars
- Cable or Satellite TV Subscriptions
- Caramel/Toffee Snacks
- Casual Dining Restaurants
- Cell Phone Carriers
- Chewing Gum
- Chocolate Candy
- Cloud Data Storage
- Coffee Machines
- Credit Cards
- Energy Drinks
- Fabric Softeners
- Facial Moisturizers for Women
- Facial Tissue
- Fitness Trackers
- Frozen Entrees
- Hair Coloring (Women)
- Hair Coloring (Men)
- Hair Dryers
- Home/Renters Insurance
- Hotels
- Ice Cream
- Kitchen Cleaners
- Laptop Computers
- Laundry Detergent
- Life Insurance
- Light Beer
- Liquid Hand Soap
- Mayonnaise
- Microwave Ovens
- Microwave Popcorn
- Mouthwash
- Online Movies/TV/Video Streaming Services
- Orange Juice
- Packaged Coffee
- Personal Computers
- Products from a Big Box Retailer
- Quick Serve Restaurants
- Salty Snacks
- Sedans
- Smart Watches
- Smartphones
- Streaming Media Players
- Tablet Computers
- Tea
- Televisions
- Trucks
- Yogurt
If you see some data you would like to see expanded upon, please send us a note at sales@thebrandstrengthmonitor.com.
Thank you for reading and we will continue to release maps for new categories as the 2016
US Presidential Election approaches.
