BrandTags
What do people on the internet think of Facebook, Google, Pixar, Fox News, Target, and Taco Bell? BrandTags.net answered that question by asking visitors to use one word or phrase to describe at least 5 of over 1000 brands. Their results are interesting, but rather difficult to interpret at a glance, since a lot more people describe brands with descriptive rather than evaluative words (ex: the most common word to describe PetSmart is "dogs." The first evaluative word, "fun," is 6th on the list.) So I took a few brands and wrote down the top evaluative words for each, and then colored them by whether I perceived the word as more positive or negative. I was surprised by some of the results.
First of all, I would guess that the demographic that used this site is pretty young by the word choice. They also seem rather bored. "Boring" was used to describe about half of the brands I looked at. At least they also have some enthusiasm as "awesome," "fun," and "cool" were used just as often.
Social media
Facebook: fun, annoying, boring, lame, waste of time, stupid, addictive, young, useless, stalker, cool, crap, overrated, shit, awesome, evil, gay, privacy, fad, pointless
MySpace: lame, ugly, stupid, annoying, emo, old, crap, boring, losers, gay, waste of time, creepy, stalker
Livejournal: ?, nothing, no idea, unknown, don't know, emo, what, boring, old, fun, dunno, huh
Youtube: fun, funny, cool, awesome, time waster, crap, great, young, entertaining, boring, stupid, useful
I feel so old. A lot of the responders don’t even know what Livejournal is, and they seem done with both MySpace and Facebook. Youtube still seems popular, though a waste of time.
Online giants
Google: awesome, god, evil, useful, smart, fun, cool, fast, good, innovative, simple
Yahoo!: old, fun, outdated, dead, lame, boring, second, not google, cool, sucks, crap, annoying
Ouch, sucks to be Yahoo. I was surprised that so many people think of Google as god. Is that a good or bad thing?
Websites
Pandora: awesome, cool, clean
Wikipedia: useful, awesome, unreliable, cool, smart, helpful, great, interesting, good, informative, amazing, lies, inaccurate, brilliant
People had surprisingly little to say about Pandora, as the first thing that came to most people’s minds was “music.” Helpful. Seems Wikipedia is still in people’s good graces, though they should work to clean up the lies and inaccuracies.
Computer giants
Apple: cool, awesome, innovative, expensive, creative, love, sleek, trendy, clean, best quality, overpriced, hip, style, simple, pretentious
Microsoft: evil, crap, shit, sucks, big, boring, giant, old, lame, bad, buggy, empire, broken
Windows: crap, crash, shit, sucks, evil, slow, broken, old, bad, virus, boring, blue screen, error, unreliable, buggy, junk
I wonder, will the next generation turn the market share over to Apple?
Phone service
AT&T: global, monopoly, evil, death, big, old, deathstar, crap, expensive, sucks, bad service, boring, ripoff
T-Mobile: cheap, crap, expensive, sucks, bad service, annoying, bad, boring, shit, good, lame, bad reception
Verizon: crap, expensive, sucks, annoying, evil, reliable, fast, bad, ugly, bad service, boring, ripoff, big, cheap, lame, slow, unreliable
I thought that Verizon would be described significantly better than the other providers, but all three seem to be suffering from bad image problems.
Video Games
Nintendo: fun, old school, awesome, cool, classic, retro, innovative, waste of time, boring, original, gay, childish, great
Wii: fun, cool, awesome, innovative, expensive, new, interactive, penis, stupid, gay, childish, great, boring
Penis? Really? I was also disappointed how frequently “gay” was used to describe products.
Movies
Disney: fun, magic, evil, nazi, happy, fantasy, gay, corporate, fake, lame, crap, cute, classic, funny
Pixar: fun, cool, creative, awesome, funny, innovative, cute, clever, quality, amazing, genius, creativity, great, brilliant, smart
Pixar had the best reputation out of the brands I looked at. Not a negative word in sight for them, which just goes to show what a stellar brand they’ve made for themselves.
News
Fox News: biased, conservative, lies, evil, crap, propaganda, boring, fair and balanced, fake, bullshit, assholes, corrupt
NPR: boring, liberal, smart, awesome, intelligent, quality, reliable, good, intellectual, truth, interesting, great
Ha, “biased” was the top word associated with Fox News. I’m glad the internet agrees. And that they like NPR!
Shopping
IKEA: cheap, crap, awesome, modern, cool, fun, meatballs, simple, affordable, junk, easy, clean, big, value, trendy
Target: cheap, value, awesome, fun, cool, hip, clean, great, affordable, love, better than walmart
Wal Mart: cheap, evil, big, crap, huge, american, white trash, bad, low prices, shit, redneck, value, discount, sucks, devil, junk, dirty, trash
Poor Wal Mart. They’ve got a long ways to go to clean up their image. I know I still don’t like them. I agree, Target is “better than Walmart.” Heehee, I got a kick out of “meatballs” for IKEA.
Products
REI: rugged, outdoorsy, expensive, adventure, green, fun, awesome, quality
PetSmart: fun, smelly, expensive, cheap, smart, friendly, value, overpriced
Porsche: fast, expensive, speed, luxury, rich, cool, sexy, nice, small penis, fancy, quality, classy, overpriced, sleek, pretentious, elite, asshole, midlife crisis, awesome, hot, douchebag
I haven’t noticed a smell at PetSmart. And interesting that they’re considered both expensive and cheap. People were also rather polarized about Porsche (probably in part due to the young demographic), but had mostly good things to say about REI.
Food
Panda Express: cheap, gross, cute, greasy, yum, yummy, delicious, yuck, good, bad
Taco Bell: cheap, gross, fat, yum, diarrhea, yuck, crap, taco hell, disgusting, yummy, nasty, greasy, gas, rats, tasty, delicious
Lol, “diarrhea.” Both Panda and Taco Bell seem to be viewed mostly as “cheap” and “gross,” but at least some people still find them “yum.”
Design/photography
Adobe: creative, expensive, slow, useful, annoying, awesome, cool, boring, smart, bloated, quality, professional, good
Canon: quality, reliable, old, good, expensive, professional, awesome, nice, great
Good brands with good products. I’m glad the internet agrees with me. :)