Fox News Channel's evening and morning programming got props from engagement tracker Brand Keys as "best in shows" as it were. The company has been tracking brand engagement and loyalty for the past quarter century.

In Brand Keys 2022 survey of broadcast and entertainment brand loyalty, Fox's evening got a shout out as the cable evening news sector that "best met expectations and engaged consumers." Ditto for its morning franchise, Fox & Friends, for cable morning news shows.

ABC's evening news was the top broadcast brand in that sector, while Disney Plus was the top brand in streaming video for consumer engagement.

But while Disney Plus was tops in engagement, Netflix made Brand Keys' list of the the brands that have rated tops in brand loyalty coming in at number four (20 years at number one in its sector), behind Discover (25 years), Avis (23 years) and Google (22 years).

Brand Keys said that loyal customers are six times more likely to engage, buy, and buy again, or to give them the benefit of the doubt during product shortages or supply chain issues, or even price increases. ■

Video streamers again took three of the top 10 spots in the just-released 2021 Brand Keys loyalty survey as consumers looked for comfort amid what Brand Keys called a "COVID-induced medical and marketplace trial-by-fire" and toughest test of consumer loyalty in the four decades it has been conducting research.

According to the customer engagement research consultant, Netflix took the number three spot (down from number 2 in 2020), while Amazon was at number 5 (down two spots from number 3 in 2020) and Disney Plus was at number 6 (up one spot from 7 in 2020).

Amazon's online retail site was the top brand in loyalty, as it was in 2020.

Hulu also made the list at number 18, (up one spot from 19 in 2020), while Apple TV was new to the list, coming in at number 26 on the brand loyalty hit parade.

The analysis was conducted over the past two months and included over 53,000 assessments from men and women 16-65 from nine different U.S. census regions. The survey featured 1,260 brands in 112 categories.

And while Big Tech has been taking big hits in Washington, that does not seem to have affected brand loyalty. Google, Apple, WhatsApp, Instagram, and YouTube all remaining among the top 20, as they were in 2020.

The best chance that Donald Trump, the brand, has to remain relevant is through some form of Trump TV or network, but not necessarily a start-up operation.

That is according to a Brand Keys survey conducted Oct. 19-27, among 1,812 self-identified Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. The study looked at four categories where the Trump name still "resonates." It examined the four categories where the Trump name as what the researcher calls "Human Brand-efficacy"--TV/Entertainment, Golf & Country Clubs, Hotels, and Real Estate--and found that the only category showing more rather than less brand efficacy was "TV/Entertainment."

The survey found that about 20% of the sample said they would "definitely/probably" tune in to such a channel (41% of Republicans, 15% of independents and 7% of Democrats).

Brand Keys designated Trump a "Human Brand" back in 1991, meaning he could translate his name into the perception that it increased the value of products and services. But since his turn toward politics, that brand has been devalued in a number of areas.

"It’s difficult for one brand, even one as strong as Trump’s, to operate successfully in the consumer and political arenas simultaneously," conceded Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys president.

The value of the Trump name on "clothing, suits, ties, watches, and jewelry," vanished, said the company, with the exception of MAGA hats and t-shirts, which survey respondents classified as ‘"political statements’ rather than traditional clothing."

But TV/Entertainment remains a potential marketing vehicle, Brand Key said, though the "lift" to that category came from Republicans.

Brand Keys points out that when Trump ran four years ago against Hillary Clinton, it was assumed he would parlay an expected loss into a Trump TV cable channel, peculation that has resurfaced with his his loss this time around.

“Trump’s efficacy as the ‘Entertainer-in-Chief’ has already been demonstrated. Cable news network ratings have hit record levels since he became a candidate,” noted Passikoff. “And remember Trump was already a TV star as the host of The Apprentice.”

Passikoff concedes that launching a cable network is problematic given cord-cutting. “It would be more viable for Trump to acquire an existing channel that caters to his conservative followers or to sign on as a program host at an established network,” said Passikoff. “Trump’s tweets reveal he already believes he is personally responsible for Fox News’ dominance in the ratings, although it has been the most-watched cable news source since 2002." Trump is currently pushing Newsmax and One America News Network, for example, having had a falling out of sorts with Fox News.

Passikoff said that a Trump TV show could also help revive faded categories.

The MSNBC brand has grabbed the top spot in news brand trust according to the fourth annual Media Trust Tracking survey from market research firm Brand Keys, which polled regular viewers to various news outlets. BBC was in second, followed by Fox, PBS, and Bloomberg News.

The firm polled 4,624 U.S. residents and asked them to rate the trustworthyness of brands they watched regularly (at least three times a week) according to a complicated mix of psychological inquiry and statistical analysis to determine how much trust a brand engenders.*

Among those at least thrice-weekly 94% of those regular MSNBC viewers trusted its brand. For BBC, 93% said they trusted it, which Brand Keys says anecdotal evidence suggested was related to its Brexit coverage. Fox was third at 89% trust, but it was in a virtual dead heat with PBS at 88%, which Brand Keys said stemmed from their respective impeachment coverage. Bloomberg was fifth at 86% trust, a percentage the company said was linked to the ads for its founder, Michael Bloomberg's, presidential run.

Rounding out the news trust list were CNN at 83%, CBS at 79%, NBC at 78%, and ABC at 76%

*"Brand Keys uses an independently-validated research methodology that fuses emotional and rational aspects of the categories, identifies four path-to-purchase behavioral drivers for the category-specific Ideal, and identifies the values (including “trust” as it is characterized in a particular category) that form the components of each driver, along with their percent-contribution to engagement, loyalty, and profitability."

A number of media brands were brand leaders according to the 25th annual Customer Loyalty Engagement Index from customer loyalty consultant Brand Keys.

Given the fierce loyalty of most Republicans to Fox News, it comes as little surprise that the Fox brand was the leader in both morning and evening cable news, though the morning news was a bit of a strange bedfellows category with Fox News sharing those honors with MSNBC's Morning Joe.

NBC was the leading brand in network evening news while ABC's Good Morning America was the leading brand in morning network news.

Red Dead Redemption II was the top multi-player video game brand while Netflix was the top online video streaming brand.

AT&T was the top wireless phone service brand, Apple tops in phones and tablets and Google tops in search engines.

Brand Keys said those top brands were based on "customers’ relationships with 833 brands in 85 categories."

Brand Keys surveyed 62,474 consumers, 16-65, from the nine U.S. Census Regions. Those respondents selected the categories in which they are consumers and the brands in those categories.

MSNBC and Fox were also among the top 20 brands in year-over-year brand loyalty increases, with MSNBC up 21% and Fox up 16%.