Surprising 2012 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index

These results may surprise you. The ratings are not for “the best,” but the loyalty of customers in the United States—Brands that indexed highest for loyalty/ engagement — and therefore most “delighted” their customers — within some specific categories:

Coffee (out-of-home): Dunkin’ Donuts comes out on top for the fifth consecutive year, followed by Starbucks, McDonald’s (which was #2 last year), Tim Horton’s and Krispy Kreme. The #1 loyalty driver in this category is not quality/taste (which ranks second), but service/surroundings. These are followed by variety/selection and brand value and location.

Fast Food: McDonald’s, followed closely by Subway, leads the pack, with all other (non-pizza) QSRs trailing substantially. Among pizza QSR’s, Domino’s indexed highest, followed by Papa John’s, Pizza Hut and Little Caesar’s and Round Table.

Casual dining restaurants: Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesday, Red Lobster, Outback and T.G.I. Friday’s lead the loyalty/engagement rankings. In this category, the big loyalty drivers are brand value and menu variety, customer service, décor/entertainment value, and healthy choices.

Cereals: Among adult breakfast cereals, the leaders are Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Special K, Mini-Wheats and Fiber One. A brand’s perception as a “tasty lifestyle” cereal is the biggest loyalty driver, followed by ingredients/nutrition value and price/value.

Bottled water: The highest-indexed brands are Aquafina, Fiji, Poland Spring, San Pellegrino and Evian. Here, the key drivers are “brand for value,” environmentally sound/purity of source, refreshing taste and widely available.

Beer: Among regular (non-light) beers, Sam Adams and Coors come out on top. Full-bodied taste and “a brand appropriate for all occasions” are the top drivers in this category.

Vodka: Kettle One leads, followed by Grey Goose, Chopin, Ciroc and Stolichnaya. Here, the key drivers are brand image, price/value and smoothness. “This is one of the categories that is most sensitive to carefully crafted advertising,” reports Passikoff. “For example, Absolut is no longer among the short list of top-indexed brands because, while it’s great on offering a wide variety of flavors, it seems to lack a clear, compelling image in consumers’ minds.”

A complete list of 2012 Brank Keys Customers Loyalty Index:

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