Digital brands continue to gain ground in the lives of Germans

Many traditional German companies are increasingly losing out in the digital transformation of their brands. In addition, there is no relevant digital brand of German origin anywhere in the world.

These are central results of the Brand Relevance Index by the brand and strategy consultancy Prophet, which surveyed more than 45,000 consumers in Germany, England, the USA and China to find out which brands are most relevant to them and their lives. For the study, 11,500 consumers in Germany were surveyed about more than 250 brands in 25 industries. The results enable the world's only ranking based exclusively on consumer judgment.

Accordingly, digital brands and services are increasingly shaping people's lives. As a result, 8 of the 10 most relevant brands in Germany have a digitally focused business model. Miele is the only traditional German manufacturing brand to make it into the top 10. There are just 16 of the country's 50 most relevant brands that come from Germany - Bosch, Siemens, Lufthansa, Volkswagen and Mercedes, for example. German brands are apparently only doing well in sectors that are no longer as important to consumers as they used to be - for example, the automotive industry or in durable consumer goods such as household appliances and tools.

"One of the most important findings of our brand ranking is a megatrend that we already observed last year: Digital brands that people interact with on the Internet on a daily basis are taking on an increasingly important role in consumers' lives," says Prophet partner Tobias Bärschneider, assessing the results of the survey. For the everyday life of most people, these brands and services are so relevant because they give them daily pleasure, offer interesting content, are constantly available and provide benefits, says the brand expert. It is true that traditional manufacturers are still holding up well in an international comparison because they have built up a strong emotional bond over the years, says Bärschneider. But only a few manufacturers manage to charge these brands with digital services in an emotional and beneficial way.

"German companies seem a bit out of touch with the times. They are well-positioned in traditional, engineering-related areas and are loved around the world for this," says Prophet partner Jan Döring, "but they have not managed to build relevant online brands and thus participate in the increasing digitalization of life and consumption." The brand expert sees the results of the ranking as a warning: "It is striking that there is no German digital brand that plays a special role among consumers. We are clearly underrepresented in this elementary area of the future and need to do better."