The recently revealed fourth annual Global Brand Simplicity Index by the brand strategy company Siegel+Gale shows that customers’ demand for simplicity as a key brand attribute, is glowing. The report also explores how simplicity drives revenue, and the relationship between simplicity and employee innovation.
The online in-depth survey reached more than 10,000 consumers from seven countries regarding about 500 brands across 25 industries. The agency used this data to generate two scores to measure simplicity: a Brand Simplicity Score and an Industry Simplicity Score.
A «Brand Simplicity» (as well as an «Industry Simplicity») in the ranking are scores calculated as summaries of perceived points of simplicity or complexity in consumer interaction with particular brands/industries.
This year’s report lists Aldi, Amazon, Google, McDonald’s and KFC as the most simple brands; by industry—Internet search, Electronics, Restaurants, Internet retail and Appliances.
Global Industry Simplicity Ranking 2013
| Rank | Industry | Score |
| 1 | Internet Search | 950 |
| 2 | Electronics | 736 |
| 3 | Restaurants | 734 |
| 4 | Internet retail | 723 |
| 5 | Appliancies | 719 |
| 6 | Retail/Grocery | 711 |
| 7 | Media | 663 |
| 8 | Retail/General | 657 |
| 9 | Travel/Hotels | 625 |
| 10 | Retail/Fashion | 602 |
| 11 | Travel/Booking | 595 |
| 12 | Travel Air | 574 |
| 13 | Telecom/Cellphone | 565 |
| 14 | Shipping/Mail | 565 |
| 15 | Retail/Health and Beauty | 564 |
| 16 | Social Media | 530 |
| 17 | Automotive | 529 |
| 18 | Fitness | 524 |
| 19 | Banks/Retail | 517 |
| 20 | Travel/Train | 501 |
| 21 | Telecom/Cable | 484 |
| 22 | Utilities | 473 |
| 23 | Travel/Car rental | 445 |
| 24 | Health Insurance | 329 |
| 25 | General Insurance | 258 |
Global Brand Simplicity Ranking 2013
| Rank | Rank change | Brand | Score |
| 1 | +9 | ALDI | 883 |
| 2 | +10 | Amazon | 874 |
| 3 | -2 | 868 | |
| 4 | -2 | McDonald’s | 840 |
| 5 | +15 | KFC | 785 |
| 6 | +3 | Carrefour | 784 |
| 7 | -3 | C&A | 780 |
| 8 | +6 | Samsung | 779 |
| 9 | -6 | IKEA | 777 |
| 10 | -4 | Pizza Hut | 768 |
| 11 | +13 | Burger King | 752 |
| 12 | -5 | Nokia | 751 |
| 13 | +13 | Youtube | 744 |
| 14 | +24 | Wallmart | 738 |
| 15 | -4 | Subway | 737 |
| 16 | +2 | LG | 725 |
| 17 | 0 | Starbucks | 723 |
| 18 | -10 | Yahoo! | 719 |
| 19 | -14 | Apple | 716 |
| 20 | +22 | Canon | 709 |
| 21 | -5 | Lenovo | 705 |
| 22 | -1 | Sony | 705 |
| 23 | -8 | HTC | 692 |
| 24 | +1 | Philips | 690 |
| 25 | +2 | H&M | 689 |
(there are 100 positions in each of the Brand Simplicity rankings by country, see them all at http://simplicity.siegelgale.com/2013/)
Among other findings, the studies by country reveal that, for example, in the UK 74 percent of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand because it provides simpler experiences, while 32 percent of UK consumers are more likely to spend up to 6.1 percent more on «simpler» brands and services. The global study also find that the simpler corporate communications are, the more the company’s employees are driven to innovate, as they better understand the values of their company.
Philip Davies, Siegel+Gale’s President EMEA, commented on the report:
“Our fourth annual survey reveals that both in the United Kingdom and on a global scale, consumers would pay more for simplicity. Experiencing simplicity at every touchpoint is key to brand success—inspiring deeper trust and greater loyalty from consumers. The 2013 Global Brand Simplicity Index highlights that complexity is causing brands to leave significant money on the table and is a tangible illustration of the value of simplicity, reveals the percentage increase in price consumers said they would be willing to pay for simpler experiences by each brand included in the survey.”
The full report with more data, figures by country and the methodology of calculation can be viewed here.