The Brand Index
Aided awareness and consideration for 600 brands, measured monthly on a nationally representative sample.
Two markets. A new wave every month. Free, and it always will be.
Two markets, one method
Pick a category to see where every brand in it stands. Or open a market to see everything it covers.
UNITED STATES
Functional soda, energy drinks, fast food, supplements, telehealth, gyms, eyewear, haircare, fragrance, women's activewear, premium apparel, mattresses, furniture, smart home, neobanks, buy now pay later, sports betting, streaming, airlines, marketplaces and resale. New categories added every quarter.
FRANCE
Énergie, opérateurs mobiles, salles de sport, optique, téléconsultation, compléments alimentaires, soin du visage, néobanques, banques de réseau, assurance, investissement, crypto, crédit conso, sites d'emploi, seconde main, téléphones reconditionnés, marketplaces, restauration rapide, voyage, alimentation animale. Nouvelles catégories chaque trimestre.
How the index is built
Frequency
A new wave every month, in every market. The questions don't change between waves, and neither does the sample definition or the list of brands - so when a number moves beyond the margin of error, the movement is real rather than a change in how we asked.
The sample
500 respondents per wave, per market, nationally representative. Real people, sourced through Kantar Profiles, Cint and Dynata. Never synthetic - no model has ever generated a response in this index, and none ever will.
What we measure
- Aided awareness: the share of people who recognise the brand from a list of up to fifteen, shown in random order.
- Consideration: the share of all respondents who would consider the brand. The question is only asked of people who recognised it, so a brand can't be considered by someone who doesn't know it.
- Conversion: consideration divided by awareness - of the people who know the brand, the share who would consider it. It shows how efficiently being known turns into being considered.
How precise it is
Awareness and consideration carry a margin of error of roughly ±4.4 points. A three-point gap between two brands isn't a difference; a fifteen-point gap is. Conversion is read on the smaller group of people who know the brand, so its margin is wider - around ±9 points for a brand known by a quarter of the sample. We publish the error bar because a number without one isn't a measurement, it's a claim.
Measured where you actually compete
Most brand rankings are built on categories nobody buys in. "Beauty." "Financial services." "Beverages." A brand can score well in one of those and still lose every week to the three competitors it actually sits next to on the shelf.
So the categories here are narrow on purpose.
Not soda - functional soda. Not eyewear in general - the opticians a French shopper actually chooses between. Up to fifteen brands in each, picked because they genuinely compete for the same purchase, from the same people, in the same moment.
That's what makes a number worth reading. Awareness of 62% means nothing against a category of four hundred brands and everything against the fourteen you're really up against.
It's also why the index grows in measured steps, a batch of categories each quarter. Defining a set of brands that truly compete takes longer than scraping a list, and we'd rather add a category properly than claim coverage we don't have.
What the index can't tell you
Two questions, up to fifteen brands, one audience. That's a real measurement and a narrow one, so here's what it doesn't cover.
Why anyone thinks what they think
Awareness and consideration are outcomes. The index shows the number, not the reason behind it - perception, associations and what your brand is understood to stand for aren't in it.
Small movements
Month-to-month differences within the margin of error are normal variation, not change. The index reports movement only when it clears that margin, and says so when nothing has.
Your competitive set
We picked the brands. If the ones you actually lose to aren't in the category, the number is describing a race you're not running.
Your audience
The sample is nationally representative. If your buyer is a specific subgroup, national awareness will understate or overstate you, sometimes badly.
Anything past the top of the funnel
Recognition and consideration, nothing further. Trial, preference, loyalty and advocacy aren't measured here.
That's not a disclaimer. It's the shape of the instrument, and knowing it is what stops a free number being misused in a meeting.
From the number to the answer
The index tells you where you sit on two questions, against a set of brands we chose.
If that's the wrong set, or the wrong two questions, or the wrong audience - that's what the paid work is for.
Brand Health
Your competitive set, your audience definition, your subgroup cuts. The full funnel, perception attributes, advertising and touchpoints, buyer profile. Where you stand, properly measured, back in 24 hours.
→ See Brand HealthBrand Tracking
Twelve monthly waves, so every shift has a month attached to it. Same questions, your audience, your competitors, all year. The difference between knowing something changed and knowing why.
→ See Brand TrackingA snapshot is a position. A tracker is a direction. The index is a reading, on a set of brands we picked, and it's free because it should be.
Questions about the Brand Index
The measurement
What is the Brand Index?
A free measurement of aided awareness and consideration for 600 brands across 40 categories in two markets, updated monthly. Each category contains up to fifteen brands that genuinely compete for the same purchase, measured on a nationally representative sample of 500 respondents per market, per wave.
How often is it updated?
A new wave every month, in every market. The questions, the sample definition and the brand lists stay fixed between waves, so the figures stay comparable.
How is aided awareness measured?
Respondents see the list of brands in a category, presented in random order, and indicate which ones they recognise. Aided awareness is the share who recognise a given brand. It differs from unaided awareness, where people name brands from memory without prompting - aided figures are always higher, and the two aren't comparable.
How is consideration measured?
Respondents are asked which of the brands they recognised they would consider. The figure we publish is a share of all respondents, so it can never exceed awareness: a brand known by 30% of people can be considered by at most 30%. To see how well a brand does among the people who actually know it, read conversion.
What is conversion, in this index?
Consideration divided by awareness - of the people who know the brand, the share who would consider it. A brand with 80% awareness and 20% consideration converts 25%: it is being seen and passed over. A brand with 30% awareness and 20% consideration converts 67%: it has a reach problem, not a desirability one.
Who answers the survey?
A nationally representative sample of 500 adults per market, per wave, sourced through Kantar Profiles, Cint and Dynata. Real people. No response in this index has ever been generated by a model, and none ever will be.
How accurate are the figures?
Every survey has a margin of error, and most published brand data doesn't tell you what theirs is. Ours is roughly ±4.4 percentage points on awareness and consideration, at 500 respondents. In practice: if a brand shows 62% awareness, the true figure is very likely between 58% and 66%. So a brand at 62% and a brand at 59% are tied - that gap is noise. A brand at 62% and a brand at 44% are genuinely different. Conversion rests on a smaller base and carries a wider margin, around ±9 points for a brand known by a quarter of the sample.
Using it
How do you decide which brands are in a category?
By whether they genuinely compete for the same purchase, from the same people, in the same moment - not by size or by revenue. Up to fifteen per category, and never padded to reach a number. A brand that shares a shelf but not a buyer doesn't belong in the set, and neither does the biggest company in the sector if its customers are choosing between different things. Once a category launches, its list is fixed for twelve months.
My brand isn't in the index. Why not?
Most likely the category isn't covered yet. The index covers 40 categories today and adds a batch every quarter, in the order people ask for them. Tell us which category you want and which brands belong in it.
Can I use these figures in a client deck or a pitch?
Yes. Cite the source (Brand Index - Standard Insights) and the wave date. The figures are published to be used, and agencies use them in pitches constantly.
Can I see how a brand has changed over time?
Yes. Every category page carries the series from the month the category launched, and each wave adds a point. Read it with the margin in mind: a move of a few points is noise, a move that clears the margin is real. For your own audience and competitive set, measured every month, that's what Brand Tracking is for.
How is this different from a paid brand study?
The index measures two questions, on a set of brands we picked, among a national audience. A brand health study measures your competitive set, your audience definition, your subgroup cuts, and the full funnel including perception, advertising and buyer profile. The index tells you roughly where you sit. A study tells you why, and against whom.
Is it really free?
Yes, permanently. The monthly email is optional.
Which markets and categories are covered?
The United States and France today, 20 categories in each. New categories are added every quarter. Current coverage is listed at the top of this page, and each market page carries what's live and what's coming.