Samsung, H&M and Subway named most vital brands in Q3 2023

The current wave of the Goldbach Youngstar Study, which evaluates brands from the perspective of young people and the young at heart in terms of their vitality, declares Samsung, H&M and Subway as the winners of Q3 2023. All three of the top places on the podium are clearly above the benchmark - the average of all brands surveyed over the past 11 years. With a score of 64.4%, Samsung can even boast a higher value than the reigning annual winner and is thus a hot candidate for the next Goldbach Youngstar Award.

The technology brand Samsung can already look back on a successful Goldbach Youngstar career. It has already secured the coveted trophy twice: once in the premiere year 2013 with a score of 64.2 and once with a rating of 59.4 in 2016. In 2021, 64.4 points were only enough for the silver medal. So it will be interesting to see whether Samsung comes out on top in the current annual ranking with the same score.

The second-placed brand H&M achieved a score of 49.6 in the current wave, closely followed in third place by the sandwich chain Subway with 47.9 points.

The Samsung brand - with an awareness of 92% - is perceived as (very) positive or at least neutral by 95%. More than three quarters assign Samsung (rather) to the future than to the past. Even before viewing the current commercial, 66% of the study participants describe the Samsung brand as "modern" and 56% as "innovative, novel". The current commercial pays particular attention to the characteristics of youthful (+22%), funny (+24%), original (+10%), entertaining (+10%) and special (+13%).

The H&M fashion chain is also known by 92% of respondents, with 75% perceiving the brand as positive to neutral. Before viewing the spot, the characteristics "modern" and "youthful" in particular receive the greatest approval from the young people surveyed. The commercial was even able to increase the perception of youthfulness (+2%). In addition, the commercial increases the rating of the H&M brand as entertaining (+6%).

For Subway, brand awareness is 81% according to this Youngstar survey, with 77% perceiving the brand as (very) positive or neutral. In this wave, the influence of the current commercial on the attitudes of the study participants was most noticeable for the Subway brand. For example, the attribute "youthful" can increase by 7% due to the spot. There is also an even more significant increase in terms of the brand's activity (+12%) after viewing the commercial. In addition, Subway is seen as modern and original.

"All in all, this wave was a particularly strong one in terms of brand vitality. All three brands already inherently boast a very youthful image. Moreover, since the annual winner from 2021, no brand surveyed since then has been able to record such a high score as Samsung. And Samsung has not aged - on the contrary: the brand can maintain its value from 2021 at a high level and even increase it compared to previous years," summarizes Josef Almer, Goldbach Austria Managing Director, the present quarterly results.

Goldbach Youngstar is determined quarterly on the basis of a quantitative survey by the Austrian Gallup Institute as the brand that is considered the "most vital and youngest" in the young and young-at-heart target group. The score, which forms the basis of the result, is made up of 3 subscores: Brand - Spot - Before/After comparison.