Best Brands Poll

Was just scanning through the ol' aggregator, when I cam across this posting from Techdirt regarding the annual 'Best Brands' poll.  Joe from Techdirt took some issue with Sony & Dell hanging in the #1 & 2 spots while they were whipping poles of the blogosphere over the past year.

Techdirt: Velveeta Fanboys Beat Out Apple Fanboys?

So does this mean that people just don't care about this stuff, and that those of us who track these things are just totally out of touch with the way most people think? The likely answer is that the poll is flawed and meaningless.

However, product lifetime and short term memory  play into effect when speaking of brand loyalty.  And I can speak for both of those brands.  I have not ordered a Dell machine, or -- knock wood -- had an issue with a Dell machine that I haven owned, in a very long time.  While I have read that the customer service and quality has slipped, I have not experienced it.  Therefore, my image of their brand is still fairly strong.  If approached on the street, I would not speak negatively, I recognize their products, and reference them in conversations about technology.  That's fairly strong brand recognition and respect.  But again, this is because I have never been tortured with the reported customer service experiences!

As for Sony, they were beat over the head for the rookit DRM fiasco that drew the ire of States Attorney Generals.  Well, obviously much broader base of distrust and like.  Yet, I don't by CDs anymore.  So I never experienced it.  Additionally, I forgot about the root kit!  Gasp!  C'mon...I would have remembered it after a bit, but I forgot about it.  I have a Sony receiver, DVD player, TV, and noise cancelling headphones sitting on my desk.  And I am happy with them.  And I still have an old Vaio laptop that I use as a kick around box.  So...I would have answered well about that brand for two reasons: I didn't remember the fiasco AND I never deal with that division of Sony!