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Forbes Top Brands

Forbes Top Brands
PSB partnered with Forbes Magazine to provide a unique view of how Brand Purpose impacts consumer perceptions of leading brands.

PSB Poll

The New American Manufacturing Sector:
Findings From a Nationwide Quantitative Poll.


How Successful People Do it – and What You Can Learn From Them
by Michael Berland
Offers an unprecedented compilation of introspective interviews, advice and analysis of success with first-person stories from 45 leaders in business, sports, fashion and entertainment.

Microtrends

The small forces behind tomorrow's big changes
By Mark J. Penn with E. Kinney Zalesne
The newly released paperback edition of Microtrends, including many new and updated trends, is climbing on the New York Times' Bestsellers list.
www.microtrending.com

PSB Brands

Green Brands Survey 2011
Since 2006, Penn, Schoen & Berland has partnered with our WPP sister agencies Landor Associates and Cohn & Wolfe to survey consumers on their perceptions of the rapidly evolving "green" space with this Green Brands Survey.

 
 
 
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Study: Obama a BMW, McCain a Ford
 

Brand Week by Kenneth Hein - October 21, 2008

Politics are a complicated subject. To simplify the way consumers really feel about the presidential candidates, Landor Associates and research firm Penn, Schoen & Berland asked survey respondents to compare them to brands.

The results were telling. While Democratic nominee Barack Obama was compared to Google, his Republican competitor John McCain was likened to AOL. Obama was also associated with BMW and Target, while McCain was linked with Ford and Wal-Mart.

The 2008 Presidential ImagePower survey, released today, polled a cross-section of 1,002 registered voters between Oct. 1-6.

When asked what fictional spy they would compare the candidates to, Obama was likened to James Bond, while McCain was compared to Jack Bauer.

However, the most telling findings show that despite their policy differences, the two candidates have a lot of similarities from a branding perspective, Scott Siff, executive vp at Penn, Schoen & Berland, said in a statement.

"Three of the key brands that McCain and Obama are both associated with—Starbucks, iPod and MySpace—won their reputation as game-changers in their respective categories by allowing people to achieve individuality in a comfortable format," Siff said. "This similarity in the candidates' brand strategies also indicates that whichever candidate best achieves the positioning they are both trying to claim may well be the winner on November 4."

Obama and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin were perceived similarly in seven out of 15 categories respondents were polled on. Obama and Palin were both compared to Google and People magazine, as they are personable and considered youthful.

McCain and Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden were even more similar. Respondents linked them in 12 out of 15 categories, including AOL and BusinessWeek, two respected brands with a long heritage.