Blue Buffalo is Both Cat and Dog Food Brands of the Year in 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Study

NEW YORK, June 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the most recent Harris Poll on pet ownership, three in five Americans (60%) have a pet.  Among these pet owners, two-thirds have a dog (67%) and just over half have a cat (52%), some with multiple pets.  And, despite tough economic times, the pet industry is expected to continue its 15 year trend of sales increases and log over $55* billion in sales for 2013, with more than $21* billion expected in pet food sales.

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While almost one-quarter (24%) of pet owners report that they frequently or occasionally cook for their furry friends, other may visit retail outlets like supermarkets, specialty pet stores, veterinary clinics, feed stores and online sources for their pets' cuisine.  For 2013, Blue Buffalo Dog and Cat Foods each earn Brand of the Year accolades, according to the 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Study. EquiTrend is an annual brand equity study that measures the perceptions of 38,500+ American consumers on more than 1,500 lifestyle, product and service brands across more than 150 categories.

"While not the most Familiar pet food brand among those included in the study, Americans rate Blue Buffalo dog and cat food highly for Quality and Purchase Consideration which drive the brand to the top of the ranking in both categories," said Linda Schulz, Senior Vice President, Harris Interactive.  "Supporting these high Brand Equity scores is a strong a Consumer Connection score which is comprised of Trust, Fit, Emotion and Performance.  Blue Buffalo is strong on all of these metrics."

Other brands that rank above the category average in both the dog and cat food categories include Purina and Iams.  Additional dog food brands above the category average include Hills, Beneful and Pedigree.  Among cat foods, Eukanuba, Friskies and 9 Lives brands are above the category average. 

Dog Food brands ranked above category average:

Other Dog Food brands in study ranked below category average (alphabetically): Alpo Dog Food, Cesar Canine Cuisine, Eukanuba Dog Food, Gravy Train Dog Food, Kibbles 'n Bits Dog Food, Mighty Dog Dog Food, Newman's Own Organics Dog Food

Cat Food brands ranked above category average:

Other Cat Food brands in study ranked below category average (alphabetically): Fancy Feast Cat Food, Hills Science Diet Cat Food, Meow Mix Cat Food, Newman's Own Organics Cat Food, Whiskas Cat Food

*Source: American Pet Products Association

Harris Poll EquiTrend® Methodology

A sample of 38,814 U.S. consumers ages 15 and over were surveyed online by Harris Interactive from January 11 through February 8, 2013 and the survey took an average of 35 minutes to complete. The sample was from the Harris Interactive online panel of respondents, a database consisting of over a million cooperative respondents who have double-opted in to be randomly invited by Harris Interactive to take part in online surveys. The total number of brands rated was 1,511. Each respondent was asked to rate a total of 40 randomly selected brands. Each brand received approximately 1,000 ratings. Data were weighted to be representative of the entire U.S. population of consumers ages 15 and over based on age by sex, education, race/ethnicity, region, income, and data from respondents ages 18 and over were also weighted for their propensity to be online. This is the same precision weighting approach Harris has used to become the leading online polling organization when calling elections.

The Brand Equity Index is the keystone to the EquiTrend program providing an understanding of a brand's overall strength. A brand's Equity is determined by a calculation of Familiarity, Quality and Purchase Consideration. Brand of the Year is determined by a simple ranking of brands.

An academic study concluded that when using the Harris Poll EquiTrend® Brand Equity model to determine brand value (as opposed to a financially-based measure of brand value), the stock performance of the top brands consistently surpassed the market during the 2008 financial downturn. The academic study findings appear in the September 2012 issue of the International Journal of Research in Marketing in the paper titled, "The Performance of Global Brands in the 2008 Financial Crisis: A Test of Two Brand Value Measures." The paper was authored by Johny K. Johansson, Claudiu V. Dimofte and Sanal K. Mazvancheryl.

The Harris Poll and Harris Poll EquiTrend® study results disclosed in this release may not be used for advertising, marketing or promotional purposes without the prior written consent of Harris Interactive.

Product and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll® and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers proprietary solutions in the areas of market and customer insight, corporate brand and reputation strategy, and marketing, advertising, public relations and communications research. Harris possesses expertise in a wide range of industries including health care, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Additionally, Harris has a portfolio of multi-client offerings that complement our custom solutions while maximizing our client's research investment. Serving clients in more than 196 countries and territories through our North American and European offices, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com

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SOURCE Harris Interactive