Nike named under 35s favourite fashion brand

Sportswear brand Nike has been named the top ‘Clothing/Fashion Brand’ by 16-34 year olds, beating off competition from high street fashion retailers Next and Primark. According to the ‘Generation Y and Brand Loyalty’ report by digital agency

Woot Media, Nike, ranked 40th in the top 100 brand list, takes the most sought after fashion brand position after the study revealed that the brand was liked by 50 percent of 16-34 year olds in the UK.

Nike came ahead of Next and Primark, which came 41st and 44th overall. The top 100 brands, which was topped overall by Cadbury, was dominated by food and drink brands and only featured 14 fashion and clothing brands.

Marks & Spencer took the 49th spot, ahead of Adidas which was named the 50th best brand, while River Island was ranked 54th, closely followed by Converse at 57th and New Look was ranked 60th.

The top 100 also featured Debenhams, Topshop, John Lewis, Levi’s, Diesel and Ray-Ban.

Nike most sought after fashion brand for Generation Y’s

The study also looked at why the brands appeal to ‘Generation Y’, with 72 percent of those surveyed citing quality as the top reason for liking a brand, while 67 percent stated how the product performs versus the competition. Six in ten also said it was to do with how the brand fitted in with their own personality.

Woot Media’s joint managing director Dan McDevitt said: “Regardless of age, two common denominators emerged about why brands appeal to Generation Y – the product’s perceived quality and performance. These ‘functional’ reasons run counter-intuitive to those who believe young adults are preoccupied with simply jumping onto the next big thing.”

The study also found that brand preferences significantly change from 16 to 34 and identified three life-stages within ‘Generation Y’. The ‘all about me’ stage, typically 16-21 years, comprising of those who only need to consider brands for themselves, which found fashion brands Topshop, River Island and New Look were the most liked.

The ‘all about us’ stage, typically those aged 21-30 who are moving into their first home, favoured Debenhams, while those aged 25-34 in the ‘all about them’ stage and accountable to other considerations tended to prefer Marks & Spencer, Next and Primark.

McDevitt added: “Despite being subject to the biggest life changes, no other age group is treated as such a homogenised unit by advertisers and the media as 16-34s. The study reveals how Generation Y’s relationships with brands change considerably as they move through these very different life stages.”

Image: Nike