It is not clear how much brands matter in business, but few would dispute the argument that perception matters quite a lot, at times. What often is harder to ascertain is the degree of correlation between estimates of brand value and other metrics such as market share or profit.
Few might argue that brands are irrelevant in telecom or any other business. What is harder to ascertain is the degree of correlation and the degree of business value.
Nor are consumer surveys necessarily so helpful. Some polls have shown that U.S. consumers believe Apple is leading in 5G handsets, when Apple has yet to announce any specific devices, and likely will not do so for perhaps two more years, though Motorola and other suppliers are selling 5G devices now.
A recent PCmag poll (unscientific) found respondents believe Verizon will lead in 5G, though at this point it is not clear anybody actually does.
But such associations are complicated. Some studies have shown that market share and customer satisfaction are not correlated, for example. Neither, it turns out, are satisfaction scores directly correlated with loyalty.
In other words, satisfied customers are not necessarily loyal customers, willing to keep buying.
But brand perception sometimes is correlated with market share gains or declines.
Some will note that Verizon often leads in surveys of consumer perceptions of value or quality. On the other hand, some surveys of global telecom firms have found AT&T surpassing Verizon in brand value, with the caveat that it always matters what methodology is used.
That points to the business value of branding, which firms such as Nielsen continue to insist are correlated with business success. A recent Nielsen survey of retailer brands and share of wallet (consumer spending) showed there is a direct correlation between buyer perception of a retailer brand and consumer spending.
So the arguably harder to assess matter of leadership perceptions around 5G services and devices might represent the same sort of correlation between buyer perception of leadership and eventual spending.
Consumer perceptions are not always easy to correlate with brand value or supplier market share. Nor is the relationship between brand and market share always so clear. Nor is it always easy to correlate customer satisfaction with customer loyalty, or market share with profitability.
It might be reasonable to expect a correlation between brand value, market share, retention, profitability or other quantitative metrics most of the time. But it does not always seem linear, though research and common sense suggest there should be clear correlations.
The even-harder question is the degree to which correlation exists because there is causation.
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