MarketCast, a marketing research firm, has launched the results of its 2025 Brand Fandom 50, a study of over 20,000 U.S. adults and nearly 300 brands over three years. It shows that Apple is among the brands that “Americans can’t live without.”
Amazon, Google, YouTube, Apple and Walmart lead this year’s Fandom 50, standing out for how seamlessly they’ve integrated into Americans’ lives across shopping, entertainment, and utility, says Ed Trujillo, senior vice president of Brand Solutions at MarketCast.
For the third year of the study, MarketCast studied 162 brands across 21 categories, zooming in on the power of Brand Fandom to drive purchase decisions and its influence on bottom-line business health. Key findings include:
- Daily Touchpoints Drive Devotion: Top-ranked brands like Amazon (#1) and Apple (#4) win not just for their products, but for being everywhere—from retail and delivery to devices and entertainment, they are embedded into consumers’ daily lives.
- Fandom Equals Business Health: Even amid market pressures, brands with high fandom scores outperform peers on purchase intent, emotional connection, and long-term brand resilience. In fact, two-thirds of brands MarketCast studied experienced revenue shifts in sync with Brand Fandom.
- Love Doesn’t Always Mean Trust: Tech brands score high on affection, but some fall short on trust. Amazon is a rare exception—ranking #1 in Fandom with 82% Overall Love and 74% Overall Trust ratings.
- Fandom Can Be Cross-Generational: Chick-fil-A defies demographics, ranking in the Top 50 across every age and income group.
- Retail Preferences Shift by Income: While Walmart ranks #5 overall, high-income households prefer Costco and The Home Depot, showcasing how perceptions of value evolve with spending power.
- Nostalgia, Joy, and Style Still Matter: Oreo (#4 for Fandom among 35-49 year olds with an 83% Overall Love rating), Nintendo (#16 for Fandom among Gen Z with an 82% Overall Love rating), and Levi’s (#5 for Fandom among Gen Z and Millennials) prove that emotional resonance and timeless appeal still capture hearts and dollars.
The top 10 brands by fandom are: Amazon, Google, YouTube, Apple, Walmart, Netflix, Coca-Cola, Visa, Levi’s, and Samsung.
“Brands that build fandom aren’t just loved, they’re resilient,” says Trujillo. “They can better withstand economic shifts, price pressure and rising competition because their fans stick with them through it all. In today’s state of economic uncertainty, this has never been more important for brands.”
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