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Made Right Here: The Psychology Behind America's Most Patriotic Brands
What makes a brand truly patriotic in American eyes? The answer might surprise you—and it's definitely not just waving flags or wrapping everything in red, white, and blue.
Robert Passikoff, founder and CEO of Brand Keys, returns to Customerland with fascinating insights from their 24th annual Most Patriotic Brands Survey. This year's results reveal a startling reality: commercial brands now significantly outperform government institutions when it comes to patriotism. While Jeep maintains its perfect streak (ranking #1 for all 24 years of the survey with a near-perfect 99% rating), government bodies like the House of Representatives and Senate score dismally low at just 25% and 28% respectively.
The conversation dives deep into what actually creates patriotic brand perception. As Passikoff explains, true patriotic connection comes through authenticity—the historical significance of Jeep "winning all the wars," Ford's role as "the founding father of industrialism," or Disney's ability to "repaint Rockwell every single night" with their Main Street Parade. These brands don't simply claim patriotism; they embody elements of American identity through innovation, inclusion, and genuine heritage.
We explore how smart consumers easily detect inauthentic patriotic messaging, why politically divisive approaches fail for brands, and the striking trust gap between commercial entities and government institutions. With government trust ratings below 40%, brands have unprecedented opportunities to forge meaningful connections through shared American values—if they can do so authentically. This compelling examination of patriotism, brand loyalty, and consumer psychology offers valuable insights for any brand looking to connect with American audiences through values rather than superficial symbolism.
Tune in to understand why patriotism remains a powerful force in consumer decision-making, and how the brands that truly understand American psychology continue to thrive even in divisive times.
The aspect of innovation, the aspect of growth, the aspect of jobs, the aspect of made right here becomes little bits and pieces that form the bricks, that form the wall. That is patriotism.
Speaker 2:Today on Customer Land, robert Pasachoff, who is founder and CEO of BrandKeys. We're talking about BrandKeys' 24th annual Most Patriotic Brands Survey and what that reveals the American psyche. What brands can do about it? Robert, thanks for joining me.
Speaker 1:Thank you very much for having me again.
Speaker 2:So it's been a while a lot of water under the bridge, which is a real shame because you're putting out lots and lots of data and lots of interesting insights that brands can use. But for the moment, let's just focus on this one because one, it's really timely. Two, I have to say I was famous by proxy for a moment, because I saw one of the current Jeep commercials where they said we are the most patriotic brand in America, or something to that effect, and I nudged the person next to me and said, yeah, I know the guy who found out that stuff and that's why they're using it. So let's dig into that a little bit. There's a lot to talk about it. So let's dig into that a little bit. There's a lot to talk about. This year's study showed a noticeable uptick in how customers value patriotism. What do you think is driving the kind of heightened importance? Is it just the climate or what's behind that?
Speaker 1:Well, I think the climate has a little bit to do with it. I mean, let's you know, let's not forget that the majority of people thought that patriotism was always important. I mean, we never had small numbers when we, when we looked at that, um, I think it's up five percent in terms of the positive uh views. Uh, this year again, likely some of that has to do with climate. There seems to be some value shifts in terms of what we ought to be looking at, who we are as Americans, what we do value, our personal and emotional reactions to things. So I would have bet that we would have seen more. We certainly don't see less. I mean, that's the other thing. The other side of the scale is just whoever it is that doesn't really care about patriotism has been the same numbers not caring about patriotism for a long time.
Speaker 2:Right, I mean you know current climate. Again it seems like you have to be. You have to be. I guess we've been activated, reactivated into patriotism recently. I mean that can mean all kinds of things, but now it's a much more important factor than it probably was 10 years ago.
Speaker 1:It is, I think, a combination of elements. We are because we are able to utilize psychological metrics in terms of our measures, rather than we don't just ask someone. I mean, to be honest, we do ask them if they think it's more or less important, but in order to be able to understand the particular value of patriotism, you've got to get under the radar. You can't just ask directly and, as I've been saying, it's a non-psychological definition. You are talking about personal values, you're talking about sentiment, you're talking about culture, you're talking about history. I mean, we just published something about how loyalty builds on the shoulders of different interdisciplinary areas. You know over the past. You know reasonably over the past 75, 80 years. This is the same thing because you know we went back and looked at some other numbers to see how they correlated with things and it's just. It's interesting. It's if you stop and look at the world from a media perspective of outreach and your personal and emotional feelings, whenever you want, creates a foundation for looking at a single value like patriotism.
Speaker 2:So one of the things that I've loved about all of our conversations and all of the studies that you've produced over the years is that what starts out as very touchy, feely stuff, to be honest, boils down really quickly into actionability, into real steps that brands can and often do take to shore up customer expectations and meet the feelings quote, unquote of what customers are all about at the moment, and case in point again is what Jeep has done. I want to read just the top kind of the winners, if you will list here and talk about one of them in particular, but Jeep was ranked number one again with Ford, coca-cola, levi Strauss, apple and Walmart, kind of leading the patriotism parade. Jeep has been number one in this survey for a long time.
Speaker 1:For every year, for the 24 years that we've done it. So beyond heritage.
Speaker 2:What specific cues or behaviors do you think keep Jeep locked in as America's most patriotic brand?
Speaker 1:Well, what we know for the brands themselves is that it takes more than wrapping yourself in the flag or putting on an Uncle Sam mask. I mean, you can't just drape yourself in red, white and blue and expect that people are going to do it, particularly the generations that we deal with now. Within the mediascape that we live in, with the electronics that we live in, the aspects of symbolism and tradition resonate a lot higher than they did 25 years ago, right, and so when you what you've got and I pass, pass this along, and this is like the not nothing, it's the grandmother test of things, because you'll have people who ask a question and go, huh, that's interesting, why is that? And when you give them the answer which again tends to be either symbolic or traditional or some combination of that with values, people then go, oh yeah, and so when you look at someone like, when you look at someone like, um, like ford, for example, it's a ford, you know it's. The ford was the founding father of industrialism in the United States. And so the aspect of innovation, the aspect of growth, the aspect of jobs, the aspect of made right here becomes little bits and pieces that form the bricks, that form the wall.
Speaker 1:That is patriotism. I mean, you know, you don't need to go much farther than you know than Jeep won all the wars that we've ever been in. I mean partly a reality, sorry, you know it's real, but it's in every movie we've ever, you know every movie we've ever seen, every old life magazine looking at the war that we've ever. You know, every movie we've ever seen, every old life magazine looking at the war that we've ever seen. I mean that kind of resonance, that kind of symbolism, you know, creates a tsunami in terms of an ideology toward.
Speaker 1:Okay, pick a word. I mean, in this instance, we're able, you know the process allows us to be able to isolate one value and then, you know, give it a value, you know, and then assign a value to it so we know how strong or weak it is. But that's, you know, that's really tough. I mean, there are easier ones, like you know. Look at someone like Disney and think about the Main Street Parade that's held every day at sundown. Right, you know, if you can't leverage true Americana, you know they're repainting.
Speaker 2:Rockwell every single night. You're in a lot of trouble, the data and some of the things that you surfaced. One of the most striking findings is that brands now rate far higher than government institutions when it comes to patriotism, and that that I think it blows me away, blows me away and yet it doesn't. It's not surprising at all.
Speaker 1:I think it was just the realization that, wow, this is really true yeah, you know, I mean first of all, we, we, we, uh, we put that out recently with the, I think, the top 10, the top 10 most patriotic brands. Um, we're still doing the analytics for the top 50, which is what we normally do, and we'll do that. We'll do that at the beginning of next month.
Speaker 2:How far down the list did the government institutions fall? Well, OK.
Speaker 1:So we look at about 1,400 brands About. I don't remember the precise number. It's about 1,400 brands that we then dissect. We go in and remove the patriotism piece and see how they do it. Um, it's probably less than 1400, because certain brands are so uh far and which remind me comment I want to make you know. I mean, for example, uh hyundai, which rates very, very highly in terms of loyalty they do very, very well every year with loyalty is at a disadvantage when it comes to looking at patriotism, and not because they don't do good things in the United States. I mean, it's just that if you have a South Korean name, you already have a barrier that you're dealing with.
Speaker 1:But this year, partially because of just what's been going on with the government, we added in the Office of the Presidency I want to be clear we didn't attach President Trump's name to it, we just the office of the president, and then the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court and the RNC and the DNC. We were curious to see. We had never measured those before. There had been no need to do it. We always look at a for-profit brand collection outside of the military services, which we measure every year and score 100% every year and we thank them for their service. But we added those in and I have to say that, even being, you know, a cynical New York research guy, the numbers were low. I mean it shocked me how low. I mean it's the government, for God's sake. They're supposed to be patriotic. They're supposed to be patriotic. They're supposed to be doing stuff.
Speaker 2:Well, let me ask you this this is the first year you've measured those institutions.
Speaker 2:Was it just kind of a gut check that prompted that Like hey, you know, this would be interesting to see what's what this year, or was there something else behind it? Because you know I've had these kinds of conversations before and we've looked at past patriotic brand surveys together and we've talked about them and I don't ever recall a time when that would have, in my mind, been a worthwhile thing to survey for. It was just given. You know it's the government, it's the, it's um, how do people feel about it? But but this year, I think it's, it's vitally important. I'm curious as to what kind of what was the light bulb moment or the catalyst to saying we got to do this?
Speaker 1:Well, you know, you stop and think about what you know. You stop and think about brands. I mean started initially with brands which essentially look to be and again, for their own benefit, this is a business, not a hobby, so they're doing it, but they look to be unified, they look to be trustworthy. It's like everyone in the tent. On the other hand, these days, with the political parties, the entities just seem extraordinarily divisive, and so I just was…I mean, part of it was curiosity there's been.
Speaker 1:Everyone tends to look at everything through a political lens, can't get away from it, and the right or the left, it doesn't really matter. It's the president blathering away about something, or it's someone in the Senate saying something, it's just, it's they. They seem to be hammering everything. And you can have, you can, of course, have your own personal feeling about it, but I'm more comfortable if I have the consumer you know,000 consumers standing behind me telling me what's going on. You know, then you can be real smart about stuff.
Speaker 1:Right, and the? You know, and just call out on this that half of the audience, half and half, are looked at by political affiliation. Now we look at the totals, but I don't want anyone to think that. Oh well, you know the presidency didn't do well and they just talked to Democrats or liberals. It's a full-spectrum view when it comes to politics. Um, you know, the rest of it is qualification within the category. You know, usage within the category, usage of the brands and so forth. Um, but the numbers, the numbers are extraordinarily low, extraordinarily low. I mean, you've got the. I think the house and the house and senate for patriotism are down in the 20s and the average and and and, to put it into context, the average of the top 50, top 50 brands, the average for them is 76.
Speaker 2:And where did Jeep fall in that? Just for additional context.
Speaker 1:Jeep ends up at a 99. Okay.
Speaker 2:And the House and the Senate end up at what again?
Speaker 1:House is 25. Senate was 28,. I think they have a branding issue. Oh well, you know this is the other thing we looked at. You know, I was curious to see. You know, we talk about personal reactions, emotional reactions, values. They have a trust. They have trust issues as well. If you look at at recent not our studies, but recent national studies that, uh, some of the you know larger, larger news organizations have done, um, you know, trust for the, uh, the house and senate are below 40% each. I mean they're in the high 30s. But you know, when you stop and think it's kind of like saying, gee, I went out and I bought this product. I paid money and I bought this product but I didn't really think it was going to work. So I only think it's like I'm only giving it a 33%. I mean, for God's sake, if you know, without sounding like a weird patriot, what's the most valuable thing you've got is your vote as a citizen.
Speaker 2:You voted for these people With a 30% confidence rate. Yeah, which you know, that's you know, for trust.
Speaker 1:I mean, that's not great.
Speaker 2:That's not great.
Speaker 1:If you had a company and someone came and said, wow, 66% of your folk don't trust you Well, think about it in terms of relationships, like you know, trust is a foundational thing.
Speaker 2:If my spouse had a 30% confidence rating in my trust level, that's not good, that's no bueno, you know. But I think you know trust is one thing and I think it's pretty easy to define, but the way you're looking at this, as through patriotism, patriotism can be a lot of different things. I think it's defined differently, isn't it? I'd love to know just your thoughts on you know, when people talk about this, when they answer these questions, are they responding to values? Are they responding to actions, messaging? What does that really mean?
Speaker 1:In this, this world. It is indeed looking at messaging to a certain extent much smaller extent than one would think because it's extraordinarily easy to you know, go into the computer room and change everything to red, white and blue and wave flags and roll out marching bands. It's all value-driven in terms of what values a brand owns as it relates, because, you're right, it's not just one thing.
Speaker 2:There isn't a pill that says patriotism, and take this right, you can't just like slap a label on it it has.
Speaker 1:It has to do, for example, with with sentiment. Um, I think jeep, jeep does what it, what je Jeep gets what it gets, because there is that historical and historical sentiment about winning the war, how we win the war, what was there for that? There are aspects that will resonate in terms of culture and I think that I'm sorry to reach for the easy example, but the Disney aspect of the town hall march every. I mean that is classic Americana, that is the nirvana of America where people want to live and have the kids run in the fields with the gazebo and the town square and the marching, you know, and the fire department marching band play and the lights at night. I mean there's a cultural resonance to that. There's also the aspects of pride for something, pride in terms of innovation, but there's also the pride and respect for the military, which is why every one of the, every one of the services ends up every year getting you know when we do the math ends up being at a hundred, right. I mean, you know, the thing is is that there are, there are individual. The thing is is that there are individual bits and pieces that you are able to I was going to say dissect, because you really can. I mean, a lot of times it's just hey, this is the brand and I feel good about it and it is you know, and yada yada. But if you go in and you do the kind of psychological work that we do and the statistical work that we do, you can see that you can be regarded as patriotic, if you are.
Speaker 1:You know, if I was using a line in something I was writing for you and me, it was made right here. It was made right here. You know that the aspect of hard work, the aspect of equal opportunity, I mean you know, when you, when you say these things, I mean you and I can have a decent conversation about it. But a lot of times this stuff rings hollow when you go. Here's a list, you know. Let me give you a list of of the things that you know that you know mom, apple pie and apple phones, that you know that and you know mom, apple pie and apple phones. You know, but it's, but a lot of it is is the, is the innovation, that that, that, uh, that is involved in this. So it's more than it's more than one thing I mean mean there's an ideology to it.
Speaker 2:Well, you've said that it's more than about flag waving and you can't wrap yourself in red, white and blue and there you are a patriotic brand. But the consumer is perceiving things that aren't necessarily intentionally being put out there. They're always analyzing. We are always analyzing for authenticity. Is this a good thing, a bad thing? A real thing signals that a consumer is registering to, to, to, to, kind of. You know, classify that's Jeep. Jeep is my number one. I mean, what are some of those things you've? You've said some of them, but you know, knowing you, and I know you fairly well.
Speaker 1:You've probably got a list somewhere of what that really means. Well, there are things that become there, are things that become different for us, I mean particularly in the mess. Well, let's go to the easy one. The messaging tends to be an easy outreach the thing, because you can support veterans, fund education, promote the made in the USA. I mean it's all great, except that we're dealing with much smarter consumers. So if I turn around and I say something because I think that it sounds patriotic Consumers are too smart about that. You can't pull the wool over their eyes. I mean, you see a lot of stuff. I mean, I think, just hearkening back to the political stuff, it's nothing but pure. The messaging is nothing but pure division. Oftentimes there's very little. Let's find this, this, let's make this work for you. It can be regarded like a partisan cudgel very intentionally the the other.
Speaker 1:The other thing is is that, yeah, brett, you know it's, it's, it's fine, you know everyone's going to have a 4th of July sale, but the ones that are going to work, the brands that are going to be perceived as being patriotic, are also going to recognize what the day is, and there are folks that I don't know, that folks forget it. How do you forget 4th of July?
Speaker 1:You know what it is and what it was, or it just may not be top of mind per se, but they don't make it an aspect of what the values are that they build in, what the values are that they that they build in. And again, you know, if you, if you, if you look at what, what political messaging is or just bad brand messaging, it doesn't have anything. It doesn't have anything like that. Um, you know, you know, part of it is what are you, what are you selling? And I'm selling inclusion. I hope I don't get in trouble with the government by talking, yeah, you're toast Inclusion, whereas on the political side what you've got is fear and blame. They're different than we are. That's like no, that's not what, that's not what it's supposed to be, it's not a patriotic factor.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, I had something, we, you and I, you and I, we had done, we had, I'd written something, and then I think you and I had a had a conversation like this as well. And then later on I ran into someone in the business who was talking about the fact that don't you think that it's like bad if a brand, just, you know, involves itself just politically with one party, because now they've excluded everyone else and that's half their audience. And I was like yeah, you know, I look to sell stuff to everyone, I don't care how you vote. I mean, that's part of what the business is like.
Speaker 2:It's the new segmentation you know.
Speaker 1:Everyone looks through, stuff through, you know, with a lens, a political lens, and that may work in terms of politics, but it sure as hell not working in terms of government and it never works for a brand in terms of government, and it doesn't, and it never works for a brand.
Speaker 2:So you know we've talked about what got these brands to the top of the list. One thing we haven't talked about I'm not even sure we have, in fact I know we don't have time to really do it, do justice to this topic, but for brands that didn't make the top of the list, what do they do? And I, before you answer that, cause I'm dying to hear that, because I'm dying to hear that, I'm going to propose that this is a phase two of this conversation, because I think that's that's the meaty stuff, that's the prescriptive stuff, that that people who pay attention to brand affinity and brand loyalty and you know the you know and how that factors into their go-to-market schemes, we'll need to hear that. It'd be my pleasure.
Speaker 1:I would just say in 20 seconds, I think the fact is that brands that do not score high either take it for granted that it's part and parcel of the thing, and more likely it's like hey, we have fourth of july sales too right, and they leave it and they leave.
Speaker 2:there you go, which is, which is the same thing, just kind of not taking it seriously. Well, ro, thank you for this, for unrolling this giant, often or seemingly unwieldy bundle of data and showing us what's what For people listening. We'll have a link to this survey here at the podcast, but Robert, just by way of note, is also a frequent contributor to Customerland, so you can see his insights and punditry there on a weekly basis.
