Customer loyalty can be a fickle thing, which is a fact more than a handful of companies are finding out in Brand Keys’ 15th annual Loyalty Leaders survey. 

The survey, which gauges consumer assessments of 1,650 brands in 145 categories, added 12 brands to the top 100 this year, the largest number of new brands to the list in the survey’s 15-year history. A typical year may see five or six new entrants to the top 100, according to Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys’s founder and president. 

“There’s been a marked shift in customer expectations that has increased at exponential rates,” Passikoff said. “That’s leaving room for companies to take loyalty away from others.”

The new brands joining the top 100 list are ChatGPT, Delta Airlines, Colgate, Modelo, Kia, Chevrolet, Hogwarts Legacy video game, NFL, Macy’s, Chick-fil-A, Estée Lauder and Patagonia. At the same time, the top 15 list is filled with familiar brands, including Apple, Amazon, Domino’s, Netflix, and Nike, that appear in the same spaces year after year. 

“There are certain brands that are taking control of their categories,” Passikoff said. “Brand loyalty is all about the emotional connection a brand can create with consumers and how well a brand is fit to meet consumers’ mostly emotional expectations. Do that and your brand will always perform better in the marketplace.”

Still, consumer loyalty can be fickle and easily influenced by other factors. Mattel moved up 46 spots on the list (from number 88 to number 42) based on the success of the Barbie movie. X, the brand formerly known as Twitter, meanwhile dropped 45 spots amid continued bad press throughout the year.

“Most expectations are driven by emotional values rather than rational thought,” Passikoff says. “If you think about how you’re going to meet [those expectations], chances are you’re not going to meet them.”

Instead, brands should focus on making genuine connections with consumers, understanding what their core consumers value and continuing to deliver on those attributes. Passikoff says. The rest will take care of itself. 

“Consumers are looking for something more than a lot of brands are providing them,” he says. “The opportunity comes as those expectations continue to rise, and brands don’t entirely meet them.”