Facebook, Apple, Netflix Top 2011 Breakaway Brands List

By Mich Bergesen and Josey Duncan Lee

If Landor Associates’ 2011 Breakaway Brands list proves anything, it is this: Younger isn’t necessarily better, stronger or more relevant. This year’s list of Breakaway Brands comprises both contemporary and classic brands. Now in it’s sixth year, the Breakaway Brands Study offers a unique look at U.S. brands that have exhibited sustained, quantifiable increases in brand strength over a three-year period—in this case, from 2007-2010.

Brand strength is determined by identifying those brands that increased their scores the most in BrandAsset Valuator, the world’s largest and most enduring consumer study on brands. The score is based on a comparison of performance on key measures that drive consumer preference and choice: the brand’s differentiation (including its distinctiveness, innovation, and dynamism) and the brand’s relevance (how appropriate it is to a consumer’s life).

The results are not necessarily the biggest brands, based on earnings or market share, but are brands that have built strength most consistently over time. This year’s list provides lessons in brand building from brick-and-mortar blasts from the past, as well as brands that feel straight from the future. Read on to learn how these brands broke away from their competitors to create a new American brandscape.

The Millennial Brands

Like the Millennials they’ve grown up with, the young brands on this list are deeply rooted in technology—they exist largely in a digital world. We’ve watched many from this list grow over the years—from young, trendy upstarts into mature brands that serve an essential purpose in our modern lives. But beyond being more digital or more social than their classic, Boomer-friendly counterparts, many from this list not only lead, they have shattered and redefined their categories—or built new ones altogether.

Some of the millennial brands, such as Apple and iTunes, defy conventional category definitions. Computers? Mobile phones? The replacement for disorganized drawers brimming with CDs and DVDs in cracked jewel cases? Apple has radically re-thought how we interact with technology and media. Never content to rest on success, Apple is constantly innovating new products and retiring those past their prime—with the recent release of the iPad fundamentally changing how we think about computing. Apple is an idea brand with a cultlike following, but its success can still be attributed to its ability to get the basics right and execute its brand consistently across every touchpoint.

Despite its seemingly restrictive name, iTunes is a platform for more than music. Apple’s media portal helps users organize their audio and video collections and enables them to buy more in moments. The market standard for digital media, iTunes is making physical copies of recorded music obsolete—at least for the younger generations, save for hipster vinyl aficionados and purist DJs—eclipsing Walmart in 2009 as top music sales retailer. iTunes’ revolutionary platform and its store’s 99-cent song offerings have permanently changed not just our consumption of media, but the entertainment industry—especially the way music is structured and acquired.

YouTube was created to fulfill an unmet market need: Before it was founded, there was no easy way to share video online. Now anyone can upload, comment on and share videos easily. And Google’s purchase of the site underlines its legitimacy as an online video leader. YouTube continues to grow by adding features, making the site simpler to use, its improvements often based on user recommendations. Like many of the other leaders on our list, YouTube’s value is greater than its function: Now, anyone with a camera and computer has the potential to captivate a global audience of billions.

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