The Most Powerful Brands in Convenience

NEW YORK -- Only two oil companies represented convenience-store and gasoline retailers on branding firm Tenet Partners’ 2016 Top 100 Most Powerful Brands ranking, but many industry suppliers and near-channel competitors secured spots on the annual list.

Tenet’s ranked the brands by a measure of what it calls “BrandPower,” a single indicator of brand strength that examines a company’s reputation in the marketplace along with its ability to affect business performance. The firm surveys participants from the top 20% corporations in the United States based on revenue on two key metrics that contribute to a brand’s strength: familiarity and favorability.

Familiarity measures awareness of the brand. Favorability measures the perception of the brand, based on how it performs across three attributes, including overall reputation, perception of management and investment potential.

Five years ago, the average BrandPower score for the Top 100 was 61.9. This year, the average BrandPower score is 64.9. This continued resurgence in brand strength indicates favorable brand perception and awareness among consumers, business leaders and other influential audiences.

Consumer cyclicals, or companies and stocks that rely heavily on the business cycle and economic conditions, such as automotive, entertainment, hospitality and retail, make up the single largest group among Tenet’s Top 100 Most Powerful Brands. Within consumer cyclicals, retail is the most represented industry.

Click through to view the list of companies relevant to c-stores, retail gasoline and foodservice.

According to Tenet Partners, the standout brands of 2016 successfully:

• Transform business models. Companies that are staying ahead of the curve are doing so by knowing when and how to launch new business models or transform old ones.
• Drive innovation with clarity of purpose. Companies that create greater brand clarity and operational efficiency demonstrate that they have a clear understanding of the ingredients of its success, the core of their brands, and how to continue to drive future brand innovation.
• Deliver stellar customer experiences. Companies need to develop innovative marketing ideas to outpace the competition.

“The Top 100 Most Powerful Brands are redefining themselves to remain relevant,” said Hampton Bridwell, CEO of Tenet Partners, New York. “In this age of disruption, they are successfully aligning their business and brand strategy, creating clarity in the marketplace, and winning the customer loyalty battle by delivering consistent results and outstanding customer experiences.”

For the ninth year in a row, Coca-Cola claims the top position.

Hershey, at No. 2, retained its spot from last year.

PepsiCo, at No. 7, held on to its position from 2015.

Kellogg dropped one place from last year to No. 12.

At No. 15, McDonalds dropped three spots over 2015.

At No. 16, General Mills maintained its place from last year.

Campbell Soup, at No. 19, declined one place since last year.

Starbucks dropped one position over 2015 to No. 21.

No. 23, ExxonMobil rose one spot over 2015.

At No. 26, Nestle rose two places from 2015.

Kraft, at No. 38, rose three positions vs. last year.

Walgreens, at No. 41, plunged eight places over last year.

Compared to last year, Sunoco maintained its place at No. 49.

At No. 53, Wal-Mart declined two spots from 2015.

This year, at No. 54, Amazon emerged as the “top-riser,” increasing 15 positions from 2015.

Wendy’s, at No. 57, dropped one slot over 2015.

At No 67, Tyson Foods held onto the same position from 2015.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, at No. 77, gained one position over last year.

Click here to view the full Tenet Partners 2016 Top 100 Most Powerful Brands list.