NEW YORK, June 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The independent and objective New York-based Luxury Institute today announced its new and groundbreaking Emotionally Intelligent Brand Index (EIBI), featuring rankings and ratings of luxury and premium brands by affluent U.S. consumers.
Initial categories with EIBI ratings are technology platforms and brands such as Apple, Google and Facebook; multi-brand retailers like Sephora, Amazon, and Saks Fifth Avenue; automotive brands including BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz; women’s and men’s fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Zegna; jewelry and watch brands including Tiffany & Co., Cartier and Rolex, and banks and wealth management firms such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, and others. Several additional categories will be rated and ranked annually. Information on results in each category, and the brands rated, will be issued throughout 2018.
The Emotionally Intelligent Brand Index metrics and analytics were developed using ten years of proprietary, quantitative and qualitative research with affluent consumers, front-line associates, managers and executives at top-tier brands. These surveys and one-on-one engagements yield substantial data used for discovering and discerning what constitutes an optimal customer experience across any channel of engagement. The survey was developed in collaboration with Columbia Business School professor Keith Wilcox, who provided advice, vetting and feedback to the Luxury Institute. The Barbara and Meyer Feldberg Associate Professor of Marketing at Columbia, Dr. Wilcox is widely recognized for his expertise in consumer judgment and decision-making, with a specific focus on the role of feelings.
“Based on more than ten years of conducting research on consumer behavior, I have found that the relationship consumers have with brands is very similar to their relationship with people,” says Wilcox. “Consumers not only desire brands because of their products, but because the brands share similar values and possess the same qualities that they look for when bonding with other human beings, and as a result, brands need to move beyond just developing products and focus on inspiring the positive emotions within consumers that build affection and long-term relationships in every interaction.”
The EIBI goes far beyond traditional customer experience metrics such as mystery shopping reviews, customer satisfaction surveys, and digital and social measures. The methodology takes into account the true emotional drivers of brand equity that Luxury Institute has identified through its proprietary research.
The EIBI asks consumers to rate brands with which they are familiar, or have purchased, along four critical metrics.
- Brand Expertise: Measured by the quality of the product, or service, provided by the brand, combined with the level of customer service experience.
- Brand Empathy: Measured by the ability of the brand to listen to its customers, understand, and address their needs.
- Brand Trustworthiness: Measured by whether, or not, customers trust the brand to serve their best interests.
- Brand Generosity: Measured by whether the brand is kind to its employees, customers, and the communities in which it conducts its business.
“Your brand’s skills in delivering compelling products, service, and technology are important, yet, these can be easily copied,” says Pedraza. “Your brand’s expertise in consistently expressing the highest level of emotional intelligence, through its people, communications and engagements, across any medium and channel, determines your long-term competitive advantage.”
Pedraza notes that brand equity today is built through deep, trusting, long-term client relationships, which are driven by positive perceptions, feelings and emotions.
EIBI surveys asked consumers to indicate which brands they intend to purchase/use in the next 12 months, and to report which brands they have voluntarily recommended to friends, family and people they care about. In contrast, consumers also reported which brands they have actively discouraged others from using. This is a critical metric that goes beyond the feel-good “willingness to recommend” question that is purely hypothetical, and often meaningless, as it often fails to correlate with actual brand performance. Consumers provided open-ended responses as to the most important reason why they took action to recommend, or recommend against, individual brands. The EIBI also provides rated brands with their brand’s full, detailed ratings and rankings by demographic customer segments, as well as the ratings of their competitive set.
The EIBI survey is an extension of the Luxcelerate high-performance client relationship system pioneered by Luxury Institute ten years ago using neuroscience, high performance science, and tech science. The system helps transform the brand’s executives, managers and front-line teams into emotional intelligent, high-performance relationship builders across the ecosystem. Luxcelerate has dramatically improved customer data collection, conversion, retention rates of small, medium and large brands across the spectrum of luxury and premium goods and services. For case studies and testimonials please visit www.luxuryinstitute.com.
The complete 2018 U.S. Emotionally Intelligent Brand Index is available for purchase. For complete rankings and ratings, with. For more information please visit www.LuxuryInstitute.com, or contact Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza (mpedraza@luxuryinstitute.com).
About Milton Pedraza, Luxury Institute and EIX CEO
Milton Pedraza is the CEO of the Luxury Institute and EIX. Over the past 16 years, Milton has established the Luxury Institute, first and foremost, as a high-performance client relationship consulting firm while serving more than 1,000 luxury and premium goods and services brands across dozens of categories. The Luxcelerate System, which applies the mastery of emotional intelligence skills in building client relationships, has helped dozens of brands to significantly improve client data collection, conversion, retention and referral rates. The Luxury Institute has conducted more qualitative and quantitative research with affluent consumers than any other entity in the world.
Milton advises and coaches luxury CEOs and advises and serves on the boards of top-tier luxury and premium brands, as well as luxury and premium startups. He is a sought-after speaker worldwide for his practical, innovative and humanistic insights and recommendations on luxury and high performance and is the most quoted global luxury industry expert in leading media and publications.
Milton is also an authority on Emotional Intelligence, Customer Relationship Management and Artificial Intelligence technologies, Analytics, and Big Data. Prior to founding the Luxury Institute, his successful career at Fortune 100 companies included executive roles at Altria, PepsiCo, Colgate, Citigroup and Wyndham Worldwide. Milton is a frequent guest speaker at Columbia University and has presented at Harvard. He has been recognized as a top Latin Entrepreneur by Stanford Business School.
Milton was born in Colombia, raised in the United States, and has lived in several countries. He has conducted business in over 100 countries, and speaks several languages.
About Keith Wilcox, Columbia Business School
Keith Wilcox is a Barbara and Meyer Feldberg Associate Professor of Marketing at the Columbia Business School. He has conducted research on marketing and consumer behavior for over 10 years. His research focuses on consumer judgment and decision-making, with an emphasis on how feelings influence self-control and motivation. He has published numerous articles in leading academic journals including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing and Journal of Consumer Research. Additionally, his research has been featured in several major media outlets including the New York Times, Time Magazine, Fox News and Wired Magazine. Keith has also spent several years consulting with companies on their advertising, branding and marketing strategy.
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