Dayton Business Journal
Good news for Amazon, bad news for Dell: Here are America's top business brands
Scott Bridges

Amazon has passed Apple as the favorite business brand among small and medium-sized companies in the United States. FedEx has for the first time edged out UPS as the preferred go-to shipping company for those same influential SMB owners. And Dell seems to be slipping significantly with that sector of the economy.

Those are among several important shifts reflected in an annual survey of more than 1,600 business owners, which has been conducted for more than a decade by The Business Journals.

Amazon was named the 2014 Grand Award winner of eleventh-annual American Brand Excellence Awards, which recognize brands that best meet the needs of small to mid-sized businesses. It was Amazon's first win. And it means, in essence, that no company is more respected or admired by the SMB market.

The study gathers perception ratings on 235 brands from business owners with knowledge about the companies. Given the influence of the SMB sector of the U.S. economy -- $30 trillion in annual sales -- even subtle gains or losses for brands can translate into meaningful opportunities (or concerns) for sales and market share.

Of the seven attributes on which brands were surveyed, Apple, last year’s winner, was named the most visionary company, and also scored first-place finishes for its leadership within its industry and for its growth.

Amazon.com, meanwhile, was considered the easiest company with which to do business, and was cited as being the most ethical and offering the best value, perhaps reasons why it was also perceived as having the greatest momentum surge.

A final characteristic, which didn’t factor into the scoring, was brand loyalty, a quality that, again, was won by Amazon.

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