The 2013 Google Zeitgeist, which ranks the most popular web searches of the year in a variety of categories, has been released, and there are a number of brand-related lists and charts available to give you an idea of what brands were hot in search during 2013.
Most Searched for Brands of 2013
The five most searched for apparel brands and retailers in the United States in 2013 were Kohl’s, JCPenney, Nordstrom, Forever 21, and Victoria’s Secret. It’s important to point out that not all searches are conducted for the reasons brands would want. The ongoing problems at JCPenney during 2013 put the brand in the number two position on the Google Zeitgeist list of the most searched for retail brands this year.
Looking at high fashion brands, Versace, Michael Kors, Diesel Black Gold, Gucci, and Kate Spade were the top five most searched for brands. The top five most searched for jewelry brands in 2013 were Gucci, Kendra Scott, Sucre, Jennifer Meyer, and Jennifer Fisher. For shoe brands, the top five most searched for in 2013 were TOMS, Aldo, Nike, Jessica Simpson, and Steve Madden.
Most Searched for Branded Products of 2013
From a branded product perspective, the top five most searched for beers across in the United States were Blue Moon, Bud Light, Bud Light Platinum, Kingfisher, and Stella Artois. When looking for new cars, the five most searched for cars were the 2014 Corvette Stingray, 2014 Chevrolet Camaro, 2013 Honda Civic, 2014 Honda Accord, and 2013 Jeep Wrangler. However, for hybrid and electric cars, people searched most often for the Chevy Volt, the Fisker Karma, the Toyota Prius C, the Toyota Prius V, and the Toyota Camry Hybrid.
Consumers researching phones most often searched for iPhone 5s, Samsung Galaxy S4, iPhone 5c, HTC One, and Nexus 5. The most searched for tech gadgets were the Playstation 4, Samsung Galaxy S4, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, and iPad Air. The top searched for video games were Grand Theft Auto V, Cookie Clicker, Atari Breakout, Candy Crush, and Bioshock Infinite. When consumers looked for mobile apps, they most often searched for Bitstrips, Vine, Candy Crush, MeetMe, and Snapchat.
Most Searched for Companies of 2013
Companies were also ranked in several categories in the 2013 Google Zeitgeist. The most searched for car companies in the United States during 2013 were Tesla, Bugati, MINI, Ford, and Jeep. The top searched for food companies were Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Starbucks, McDonalds, and Jimmy Johns. Finally, the most searched for Fortune 500 companies in 2013 were Google, Facebook, Apple, Yahoo!, and Target.
You can see more lists, including lists for a number of countries, and compare these rankings with rankings from previous years on the Google Zeitgeist website (just follow the link at the beginning of this article). Google also created an annual zeitgeist video which gives a great overview of the year in search. You can watch it below.
Image: Carl Dwyer
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
