BrandIndex in Apple Insider: Motorola passes Apple in brand loyalty with men -- story goes widely viral

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Motorola passes Apple in brand loyalty with men -- study

By Neil Hughes

Published: 02:00 PM EST

Motorola has exceeded Apple in brand loyalty among men ages 18-and-up since the launch of its new Droid handset, but the iPhone maker has remained well ahead of competitor BlackBerry, according to one study.

According to new, daily tracking statistics from YouGov's BrandIndex, Apple dropped from a peak score of 48.1 in the month of November to a score of 22 last week. That took it below Motorola, which remained relatively static from its month-long peak of 32.3, finishing last week with a score of 29.3.

The study's scale ranges from -100 to 100, based on interviews conducted with 5,000 people each weekday from a representative U.S. population sample. YouGov conducts more than 1.2 million interviews per year, selected from an online panel of more than 1.5 million unique individuals. The study has a margin of error of +/- 2 percent.

The company said its survey demonstrates that Motorola has likely come out on top of the ongoing advertising dispute between Verizon and AT&T.

"Motorola has seen its brand loyalty unaffected by AT&T's lawsuits against Verizon Wireless and ad war bashing," YouGov said. "But it seems to have taken a toll on Blackberry, which has withered under all the Droid/iPhone marketing and hype."

This week, Apple indirectly joined the dispute with two new ads that tout features available only on AT&T's UMTS/GSM network. The advertisements debuted after the most recent study results from YouGov were released; any potential impact from the ads likely wouldn't be seen for weeks.

It's a similar story to earlier this month, when Verizon's brand perception soared while AT&T sunk in the 18- to 34-year-old target demographic. The study suggested that Verizon and Motorola's advertising campaign for the Droid, which launched on Oct. 18, proved effective. Those ads, along with network-specific TV spots from Verizon, directly targeted both Apple's iPhone and AT&T's coverage.

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Survey: Droid advertising scaring men right into dutiful brand loyalty

By Chris Ziegler posted Nov 24th 2009 4:23PM

Glowing red cyborg eyes, bombs dropped from stealth fighters, emotionless calls of "DRRROOOIIID" every time you get a text message -- it's enough to scare yesterday's lunch out of anyone. Verizon's no-holds-barred advertising campaign for the Motorola Droid has been so hellishly frightening overwhelmingly successful, in fact, that it appears to be paying dividends either directly or indirectly against Moto's biggest rivals. YouGov's BrandIndex -- an ongoing survey measuring brand loyalty through some secret-sauce methodology that only analysts would fully comprehend -- shows a marked spike in Moto's score in the critical adult male category, while Apple and RIM have taken hits over the same period. These numbers look terribly volatile over a relative short span, so we're not going to be rushing to any conclusions -- but by any measure, it's pretty wild to see Moto go from a has-been to besting the bulletproof cult of iPhone in just a few short weeks. In the long term, it'll be interesting to see just how deeply Moto's and Apple's carrier relationships are factoring into public sentiment; after all, momentum's certainly on Verizon's side right now.

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Verizon Ad Campaign Benefits the Carrier, Motorola, Hurts Apple, AT&T

By Erik Sherman | Nov 25, 2009 -- BNET

Verizon’s ad campaign bashing AT&T and, in the process, the partner-it-would-have, Apple, has benefited Verizon and Droid manufacturer Motorola in specific age and gender sets, according to YouGov, which produces the BrandIndex measure of relative brand strength. But whether that’s enough to cause a big hurt, or even long-term shift in the balance of power, is up in the air.

Back in mid-October, right after Verizon started running its Droid ads, YouGov asked 18- to 34-year-olds whether they would recommend Verizon or AT&T to a friend:

Verizon received a rating of 8.3, while AT&T received a 1.4. A few days later, the carriers were approximately tied around a rating of 10, but from there, customer ratings of Verizon began to soar, while those for AT&T dropped.Around Nov. 5, AT&T’s overall rating was approximately -8, while Verizon hovered near 28. BrandIndex says it interviews 5,000 people each day, and that its margin of error is plus or minus 2 percent.

The scores indicate a relative positioning, with higher positive scores being better.

And then the ads taking potshots at AT&T’s 3G network started and, ultimately, AT&T tried to retaliate. The apparent result was improved standing for Motorola at the apparent expense of AT&T and Apple. I don’t have the original report and must confess to be a little leery about the way AppleInsider has reported it because it points to an 18 plus segment of men, which is broader than YouGov or other market researchers generally split out age groups. I would have expected 18 to 34 again, but given the early hour at which I write, reaching YouGov’s New York office for clarification is out of the question.

So for the moment let’s go with the report as AppleInsider summarizes it. Apple’s brand dropped from a peak of 48.1 in November down to 22, a number that Motorola beat by more than ten points, showing that the latter is benefiting from the ad wars:

“Motorola has seen its brand loyalty unaffected by AT&T’s lawsuits against Verizon Wireless and ad war bashing,” YouGov said. “But it seems to have taken a toll on Blackberry, which has withered under all the Droid/iPhone marketing and hype.”

I’ll be checking with YouGov to see how the numbers for Verizon and AT&T have stacked up since the prior report. Also, the latest data came before the Apple ads touting how users could talk and be online at the same time, so there may be some backlash yet to come. And given the talk between Verizon and Apple about carrying the iPhone, there are all sorts of other implications that could play a role.

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Ad wars: Droid manly; iPhone girly

Posted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt

December 4, 2009 8:32 AM -- FORTUNE

Motorola targets young men with its most testosterone-heavy TV commercial yet

Screen shot from Droid ad. Image: Motorola

Someone had fun writing this ad copy:

Droid. Should a phone be pretty? Sould it be a tiara wearing digitally clueless beauty pageant queen? Or should it be fast? Racehorse duct-taped to a Scud missile fast. We say the latter. So we built the phone that does. Does rip through the Web like a circular saw through a ripe banana. Is it a precious porcelain figurine of a phone? In truth? No. It's not a princess. It's a robot. A phone that trades hair-do for can-do.

The new Droid commercial that debuted in prime-time Thursday night (and is pasted below the fold) opened a new front in Motorola (MOT) and Verizon's (VZ) $100 million ad campaign to take market share from Apple's (AAPL) iPhone

Earlier commercials had appealed to the fragile male ego with icons of masculinity: stealth bombers, heavyweight fighters, rock-crushing machinery.

This one goes after the competition by painting it — and its users — as effeminate.

Three-week moving average. Source: YouGov BrandIndex

It's a strategy as old as the schoolyard, and it seems to be working — at least on one side of the yard. A new YouGov BrandIndex survey taken Thursday shows Motorola's buzz rising relative to Apple's among young men 18 and older. And the company seems to be on track in its stated goal of selling 1 million Droids by New Years.

It remains to be seen whether it has burned its bridges to the other half of the market in the process.

Apple Insider and eWeek pick up BrandIndex's Verizon Wireless vs. AT&T data, followed by PC World and Daily Tech

Verizon's advertising propels brand perception while AT&T sinks

Verizon and Motorola's strong marketing push leading up to the launch of the new Droid handset had a significant impact on brand perception in the 18- to 34-year-old target demographic, pushing it well above AT&T, according to a study released Monday.

Daily tracking from YouGov's BrandIndex shows that scores associated with the Verizon Wireless brand have soared since the Droid advertising campaign launched on Oct. 18, up until the launch of the Droid last Friday. Verizon's score went from 8.3 to 24.2 on the study's scale, which ranges from -100 to 100.

During the same frame, AT&T's brand perception dropped, from 1.4 on Oct. 18 to -2.4 by Nov. 6. The ongoing study surveys 5,000 people each weekday from a representative U.S. population sample. More than 1.2 million people are interviewed each year, and the research is said to have a margin of error of +/- 2 percent.

Respondents in the target 18- to 34-year-old demographic were asked the question, "Would you recommend the brand to a friend?" While AT&T and Verizon were comparable in the latter half of October, Verizon pulled well ahead of the second-largest wireless carrier come November, leading up to the debut of the Motorola Droid.

The latest study follows a tough summer for AT&T, when overall consumer perception dropped significantly following the launch of the iPhone 3GS. That change was likely at least partially attributed, BrandIndex said, to AT&T's inability to meet bandwidth needs on its network following the launch of Apple's latest handset.

The Droid launched Friday to positive reviews. Building up to its release, a series of advertisements targeted Apple's iPhone, making claims of shortcomings with the tagline "iDon't."

In addition, Verizon has stepped up its advertising against the AT&T network, lampooning the iPhone "There's an app for that" phrase with the slogan "There's a map for that." Last week, AT&T filed a lawsuit over the advertisements, claiming that Verizon is misrepresenting its coverage areas and misleading consumers.

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Verizon`s ATandT, iPhone Bashing Is Working, Says Study

By: Michelle Maisto
2009-11-10

New Verizon advertisements promote the Motorola Droid smartphone by pointing out the iPhone’s weak spots, as well as tout Verizon’s coverage map as superior to AT&T’s. According to new consumer perception surveys, the public is believing both Verizon claims.

Verizon’s Apple- and AT&T-bashing advertisements appear to be swaying public opinion, at least for now.

According to YouGov’s BrandIndex, which measures consumers’ brand perceptions on a daily basis, attitudes toward Verizon Wireless and AT&T have shifted since Verizon launched its Motorola Droid campaign on Oct. 19.

BrandIndex scores can range from 100 to -100, and on Oct. 19, 18- to 34-year-olds were asked, “Would you recommend the brand to a friend?” Verizon received a rating of 8.3, while AT&T received a 1.4. A few days later, the carriers were approximately tied around a rating of 10, but from there, customer ratings of Verizon began to soar, while those for AT&T dropped.

Around Nov. 5, AT&T’s overall rating was approximately -8, while Verizon hovered near 28. BrandIndex says it interviews 5,000 people each day, and that its margin of error is plus or minus 2 percent.

“We measure a bunch of different metrics, and one is buzz. It really tracks ad campaign activity,” Ted Marzilli, managing director of BrandIndex, told eWEEK. Marzilli said measures of buzz tend to move around quite a bit.

“What’s more surprising is to see things like satisfaction and quality move as well,” Marzilli continued. “Those tend to move more slowly. When you see things like quality [ratings] go up or down, those tend to have staying power.”

Verizon’s Oct. 19 ad touted the Motorola Droid as everything the iPhone isn’t — a device with a physical keyboard, with a flash camera, that can run several applications at once and that can be customized with widgets.

Later ads have taken shots at AT&T’s 3G network by comparing its coverage areas to Verizon’s. A new holiday-timed ad shows the iPhone arriving at the Island of Misfit Toys, where the other toys discover that it’s a good fit since — although it can browse the Web and download apps — its barely there coverage map renders its other features moot, the ad implies.

AT&T has since filed a suit against Verizon, claiming that the coverage maps are misleading.

According to BrandIndex numbers, AT&T has reason to be upset, as the ads are swaying public opinion.

“The challenge for AT&T is that the commercials have already aired, and they’ve made an impact,” said Marzilli. “I don’t know what AT&T is going to get out of this lawsuit, except to get Verizon to pull the ads. … That may at least be their immediate goal.”

Marzilli added that BrandIndex also measures Attention, which he describes as how tuned-in consumers are to what’s going on with a company in the last two weeks. Verizon and AT&T, both heavy advertisers, so garner a lot of attention, he said.

“This is an interesting period, because with the Droid, Verizon is going head to head against AT&T. And when we see scores start to really diverge, it shows these head-on ads can be quite effective,” Marzilli said. “It’ll be interesting to see how AT&T, or Apple, addresses this in the coming weeks.”

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AT&T's Verizon Ad Battle: Who's Being Hurt Worse?

JR Raphael, PC World

Nov 13, 2009 6:19 pm

Cell phone lovers, get ready to rumble: AT&T and Verizon are duking it out in an ad-based battle, and the fight isn't showing any signs of slowing down. Now, some new data suggests the public is starting to take notice.

AT&T's Verizon Ad Battle

First, let's set the scene: In one corner, you have Verizon. The company recently launched a series of ads attacking AT&T's 3G network. The spots, revolving around the phrase "there's a map for that," show side-by-side maps of AT&T's and Verizon's networks and claim Verizon has five times more 3G coverage. Combine those with the ongoing series of iPhone-bashing Droid commercials, and you've got a powerful one-two punch heading straight toward AT&T's kisser.

In the other corner, of course, is AT&T. The company that's taken countless beatings over its network is taking a stand against this latest round. AT&T sued Verizon over the 3G-focused ads, claiming the clips were misleading and causing the loss of "incalculable market share."

To be clear; AT&T's beef isn't with what the ads say about its 3G network, but rather what it believes the ads might imply: The maps, AT&T says, could lead a consumer to believe the company has no wireless coverage whatsoever in the whited-out areas, rather than believing only that it has no 3G coverage in those spots (a fact AT&T does not dispute).

"Through the use of a coverage map in [Verizon's] ads, they suggest through all white or blank space not only that AT&T doesn't offer 3G coverage but [also that it offers] no coverage at all," a spokesperson says.

The ads, by the way, feature clear captions that indicate it is the 3G networks being compared.

Now, AT&T's taking things a step further. The company issued a public statement this week to "set the record straight" with its customers. It also expanded its initial complaint to request Verizon pull its more recent ads, too -- the ones that show an iPhone on the "Island of Misfit Toys."

AT&T vs. Verizon: The Public Perception

Okay -- caught up with all the drama? Good. Now here's the important part: The ads, and perhaps the surrounding bickering, are in fact making a difference.

According to BrandIndex, a service that measures thousands of consumer brands year-round, public perception of Verizon has shot up since its ad campaigns began in October. AT&T's public perception, at the same time, has plummeted.

BrandIndex surveys a representative sample of the U.S. population every weekday. Prior to Verizon's recent campaign, Verizon had a "buzz score" among adults 18 to 34 years old of 8.3, while AT&T measured 1.4. By the end of last week, Verizon had jumped up to 24.2 and AT&T had dropped to -2.4. The buzz score ranges from -100 to 100 and represents how much positive news people report hearing about each company.

Perhaps even more telling, BrandIndex also measured how willing people said they were to recommend AT&T versus Verizon. In late October, the two companies were tied with scores of nine (on the same -100 to 100 point scale). By early November, Verizon had climbed up to 25, while AT&T had fallen to -8.

If all of that's not enough, the number of people reporting they're satisfied with AT&T has dropped in the past few weeks, too, according to BrandIndex's data -- while the satisfaction score for Verizon has remained constant.

"It's a pretty significant movement," says Ted Marzilli, global managing director of BrandIndex. "A fair number of people are believing or responding to Verizon's positive message, and they're also second guessing or altering their opinions of AT&T."

The effect could be a combination of the map-driven ads and the general buzz surrounding Verizon's launch of the Motorola Droid, Marzilli points out. And how long the impact will last, he says, is hard to gauge.

Regardless, it seems the majority of bloggers agree upon one thing: Whatever damage Verizon's ads may be doing, AT&T's flailing is only making it worse. The company could stand to take a lesson from a lifeguard: When you're drowning, the worst thing you can do is kick and scream. It only makes you sink faster.

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Verizon Mocks AT&T's Ad Lawsuit, Commenting "The Truth Hurts"

Jason Mick (Blog) - November 17, 2009 6:01 AM -- DAILY TECH

The nation's largest wireless provider fires back in court

AT&T and Verizon, the nation's second largest and largest telecoms, respectively, are at open war. With Verizon's new Droid phone looking to challenge the iPhone as the reigning media smartphone, the pair wage battle in the court room over Verizon's commercials which depict AT&T's poor 3G coverage.

It has been reported that in some areas, such as New York City, that AT&T's call drop rates are as high as 30 percent -- or that it merely has no 3G service at all. However, AT&T does have broad coverage under its older EDGE network, and it claims that Verizon's ads are deceptive. AT&T's argument basically boils down to a claim that the average viewer is fooled to believe that the Verizon commercial's maps represent total coverage and not 3G coverage -- despite several textual and audio clues. Thus it claims the commercials are misleading and damaging.

Initially AT&T only sued over Verizon's "There's a map for that" series, which introduced Verizon's rich red map and AT&T's lacking blue map to viewers, all while poking fun at Apple's iPhone slogan ("There's an app for that"). AT&T recently expanded the suit to include Verizon's new Christmas themed ads "The Island of Misfit Toys".

Verizon has flatly refused to stop airing the commercials, and to AT&T's dismay, the dispute seems unlikely to be resolved until well into the holiday season. AT&T had hoped to quickly get Verizon's ads pulled from TV.

In court this week Verizon filed new documents, according to Engadget, which blast its competitor, saying that the lawsuit is a weak attempt from a player that just can't compete. States Verizon's filing, "AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon's "There's A Map For That" advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon's ads are true and the truth hurts."

Continues the filing, "In the final analysis, AT&T seeks emergency relief because Verizon's side-by-side, apples-to-apples comparison of its own 3G coverage with AT&T's confirms what the marketplace has been saying for months: AT&T failed to invest adequately in the necessary infrastructure to expand its 3G coverage to support its growth in smartphone business and the usefulness of its service to smartphone users has suffered accordingly. AT&T may not like the message that the ads send, but this Court should reject its efforts to silence the messenger."

As it sees its hopes of a favorable court ruling in jeopardy, AT&T has tried to set the record straight among its own customers, writing them a letter asking them to ignore what it perceives as lies in Verizon's ads. It writes that the Verizon commercials are "so blatantly false and misleading, that we want to set the record straight about AT&T's wireless data coverage". In the letter, the company highlights what it sees as abundant mixed coverage on its older EDGE and new 3G networks.

Regardless of whether AT&T's dreams of silencing Verizon's commercials come true, evidence indicates that the damage has already been done. In recent weeks Verizon's brand image has soared while AT&T's has sank according to Apple Insider, according to recent BrandIndex surveys by YouGov. The surveys looked at whether customers would recommend the respective telecoms to their friends. AT&T scored less than a -2 in the most recent study -- indicating not many customers would recommend getting an AT&T phone.

The commercials seem to be working -- in recent months Verizon's image has soared, while AT&T's has sank, according to YouGov, which tracks brand reputation. (Source: Apple Insider)

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November 17, 2009 7:09 AM

Verizon Responds to AT&T Lawsuit: "The Truth Hurts"

Verizon mocks AT&T for whining in its response to lawsuit. Verizon's legal filing says "the truth hurts" and claims AT&T is simply trying to squash the marketing before the holidays. Tony Bradley

-- PC WORLD

Verizon has responded to the AT&T lawsuit over the "There's a Map for That" marketing campaign with a legal filing of its own. Verizon's message to the court and to AT&T essentially boils down to three words: "the truth hurts".

The Verizon legal team should be commended. Legal briefs and filings don't usually make very compelling reading, but this one is actually a pretty good read. It has a little drama, a little humor, and ultimately makes the point that AT&T is simply trying to use the courts to obscure the simple truth that its 3G network is inadequate.

In the filing, Verizon states "Remarkably, AT&T admits that the 3G coverage maps--the one thing that is common to all five ads--are accurate and that the ads' express statement that Verizon has "5X More 3G Coverage" than AT&T is true."

Verizon goes on to say "In the final analysis, AT&T seeks emergency relief because Verizon's side-by-side, apples-to-apples comparison of its own 3G coverage with AT&T's confirms what the marketplace has been saying for months: AT&T failed to invest adequately in the necessary infrastructure to expand its 3G coverage to support its growth in smartphone business and the usefulness of its service to smartphone users has suffered accordingly. AT&T may not like the message that the ads send, but this Court should reject its efforts to silence the messenger."

The legal response from Verizon concludes by saying "This motion is a blatant effort to ask the Court to do what the marketplace will not do: shield AT&T from truthful comparative advertisements that Verizon has a right to air and that consumers have a right to see."

Touché. Well-played, Verizon.

Recent reports from Brandindex.com show that Verizon's brand image is skyrocketing, while AT&T's has plummeted. AT&T could construe the reports to support its claim that the ads are misleading and damaging to its image.

Or, perhaps AT&T's claim has become a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. By suing Verizon and making a big deal over the ad campaign, AT&T has increased the exposure of the ads exponentially. If the shift in brand perception is a result of the ads, it could be because they're true rather than because they're misleading. The fact that AT&T is whining about it publicly certainly doesn't improve its brand perception either.

AT&T was hoping to get an emergency injunction to force Verizon to pull the entire marketing campaign pending the results of a full hearing. It appears that AT&T will not get that injunction and that this case will not be heard for awhile. Even if AT&T ultimately prevails, the holidays will be over, the damage will be done, and Verizon will most likely have ended the campaign of its own volition anyway.

Verizon isn't making any claim in the ads that AT&T's own customers haven't already stated. Consumers have taken issue with AT&T's high dropped call rate in some areas, sparse 3G coverage, and more. I doubt AT&T will be taking its customers to court to get them to stop complaining.

AT&T is its own worst enemy in this case. It is drawing attention to disparaging details about its own network which it admits are accurate, and coming off looking like whiners at the same time. Seems like a lose-lose and makes me wonder if the AT&T legal team isn't secretly working for the Verizon marketing team.

I break BrandIndex's research on AT&T losing consumer favor in Adweek, Mediapost, ZDNet, AppleInsider, MacDailyNews

AT&T consumer perception drops during summer '09

Despite rumors that Apple may be looking into extending its contract with AT&T, consumer perception for the carrier has dropped lower than it has all year.

In a comparison of Verizon Wireless and AT&T consumer perception among adults 18 and older, goodwill toward AT&T has dropped precipitously compared to rival Verizon, according to daily YouGov BrandIndex data.

Urban iPhone overload and data outages during the summer season may be to blame.

BrandIndex measures “consumer perception” by averaging scores in response to questions about the quality, value, satisfaction, recommendation, reputation and impression of a brand.

AT&T has always lagged behind Verizon Wireless, but the gap began widening noticeably in mid-June, according to the data. Between June 16 and Sept. 10, AT&T’s Index score dropped from 18.3 to 14.6, “a substantial drop for this kind of score,” a BrandIndex spokesman said.

Verizon’s score dropped less than two points’ worth in the same time period.

Drops in quality (”Is it high quality or low quality?”) and recommend (”Would you recommend the brand to a friend?”) scores contributed to the overall drop, according to the spokesman.

YouGov’s BrandIndex interviews 5,000 people each weekday from a representative U.S. population sample. Respondents are drawn from an online panel of more than 1 million individuals. Margin of error is +/- 2 percent.

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AT&T IPhone Data Woes Depress Perception

For AT&T, the benefit of success that comes as the exclusive carrier of the iPhone may very well also be a burden.

Amid press reports that AT&T's network is having trouble keeping up with its customers' data usage (directly related to the iPhone adoption), company perception among adults has dropped steadily over the summer, according to YouGovPolimetrix's BrandIndex, which measures daily consumer perception of brands.

"There's been a significant amount of high-profile press in the past couple of weeks about AT&T's data problems," Ted Marzilli, CEO of YouGovPolimetrix, tells Marketing Daily. "There's no question it implies that there are some serious concerns for AT&T and Apple as they consider [extending the exclusivity of] the iPhone."

According to the company, AT&T's "Index" score (which is the average of its Quality, Value, Satisfaction, Recommendation, Reputation and Impression scores) has been dropping since mid-June. On June 16, the company's Index score was 18.3. By Sept. 10, it had dropped to 14.6. (By comparison, Verizon Wireless' score on Sept. 10 was 21.2, about the same as it was at the beginning of the year.) The company's biggest score drops were on the Quality and Recommend scales, suggesting that stories addressing data outages were having an effect on company perception.

"I think there's still only a small number of people who've given up the iPhone and AT&T," Marzilli says. "I think there's a larger number of people who want to buy an iPhone, but are hesitating because of these problems with AT&T's data coverage."

In the meantime, some damage control may be in order for AT&T [such as] putting together a plan to tell the public how they're going to address the problem and a timeline for putting it into place, Marzilli says. "AT&T has to work very, very hard to make sure those [iPhone] subscribers are profitable and happy, particularly before the exclusivity agreement runs out. Because once they leave, it's going to be very hard to get them back."

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Study shows steady decline in AT&T brand perception

Since the launch of the iPhone 3GS, public perception of AT&T has progressively decreased, while opinions about competitor Verizon Wireless remained relatively unchanged, a new study shows.

In a daily survey of 5,000 people 18 and older, YouGov's BrandIndex tracks companies based on factors of quality, value, satisfaction, recommendation, reputation and impression. When combining those categories, AT&T's index score of 18.3 on June 16 had eroded to a 14.6 on Thursday -- a change company senior vice president Ted Marzilli told AppleInsider is "statistically significant."

He said the survey could indicate that some people may pause before they buy an iPhone because they don't want to be locked into an AT&T contract. Though he believes the contract between AT&T and Apple has likely been beneficial to both parties for the last two years, the timing of AT&T's public perception decline suggests the

issue can be traced to the launch of the iPhone 3GS -- or, more specifically, the network's inability to meet the bandwidth needs of users with the device.

"It may be hindering iPhone adoption at this point," Marzilli said, "and I think Apple is going to take a hard look at what they will do next."

AT&T has always been perceived as an inferior brand to Verizon Wireless in the index rankings. However, it was in mid-June that the gap between the two companies began to widen. Though AT&T's 14.6 score in overall feedback remains relatively positive, it still lags behind well behind Verizon in consumer perception. In the last three months, AT&T's biggest hits came in the quality and recommendation rankings.

"AT&T can come out with its initiatves and its announcements, but the problem is people on the Web are starting to blog about their problems with the AT&T network," Marzilli said. "It's a bit of a snowball effect."

While the study found AT&T's score to consistently drop over the last three months, Verizon has stayed much the same as it was in January. Its Sept. 10 score was 21.2. Scores can range from 100 to -100. A score of zero would mean equal positive and negative feedback.

The BrandIndex rankings sample a representative portion of the U.S. population. The company said it conducts more than 1.2 million interviews

per year from an online panel of more than one million individuals. The company said its survey's margin of error is +/- 2 percent.

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Report: iPhone Adoption Uncovers AT&T's Flaws

NEW YORK While it was certainly a coup for AT&T to get the exclusive rights to the Apple iPhone, the agreement hasn't been entirely positive for the wireless giant. Consumers who flocked to AT&T to use the device were disappointed with the quality of the service, according to new findings from YouGov's BrandIndex.

AT&T's perception among adults over the age of 18 has steadily eroded throughout the summer, while Verizon Wireless has retained its standing, per an online poll of 5,000 consumers.

Consumers were asked to rate quality, value, satisfaction, recommendation, reputation and impression to generate an overall index score. Thanks to drops in the quality ("Is it high quality or low quality?") and recommendation ("Would you recommend the brand to a friend?") rankings, AT&T's index score fell to 14.6 as of Sept. 10. That was down from 18.3 on June 16 and is considered a substantial drop for this type of index, per YouGov.

"For AT&T, it's beginning to look like a case of 'be careful what you wish for' with its overloaded network and dropped calls," said YouGov svp Ted Marzilli. "While there are no other options for iPhone users, BlackBerry's new ultra-competitive products and two-for-one deals at Verizon Wireless may make both Apple and AT&T vulnerable to 'iPhone flown.'"

Verizon Wireless' index score on Sept. 10 was 21.2, which is consistent with its rankings throughout the year.

AT&T rep Jenny Bridges said the survey is off base. "We continue to have low churn rates, which can be attributed to the fact that our customers are pleased with the services we're providing them," she said. "We care about the experience customers have with AT&T. That's why we continue to invest billions of dollars a year in making network improvements, including the continued launch of our 3G wireless services in markets across the U.S. and the launch of HSPA 7.2 in six major markets by the end of this year."

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AT&T brand perception steadily declines as Apple iPhone taxes network capabilities

"Since the launch of the iPhone 3GS, public perception of AT&T has progressively decreased, while opinions about competitor Verizon Wireless remained relatively unchanged, a new study shows," Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider.

MacDailyNews Take: For the umpteenth time: Take those 10+ million U.S. iPhones off AT&T and plop them on Verizon and watch AT&T satisfaction soar (especially in metro areas) and Verizon come to a grinding halt. No carrier, including Verizon's, is ready for 10+ million devices that are actually used for serious data consumption. Verizon's network accommodates inferior devices that only sip data in comparison to iPhone due to their unusable web browsers (if they even have them) and generally indecipherable user interfaces which, only benefits the carrier as they get to sell phones on features that most people will never use. The iPhone's ease-of-use (snap a photo or even shoot a video and send it over AT&T's network to wherever; robust, real Web Browsing; data-consuming apps which include streaming video over 3G, etc.) combined with the vast, rapidly-growing number of iPhones would cripple any carrier. If AT&T can't get a handle on it, Apple would do well to reconsider their exclusive U.S. arrangement and spread the wealth - and the data consumption - to other carriers, as soon as (technically and legally) possible.

Hughes continues, "In a daily survey of 5,000 people 18 and older, YouGov's BrandIndex tracks companies based on factors of quality, value, satisfaction, recommendation, reputation and impression. When combining those categories, AT&T's index score of 18.3 on June 16 had eroded to a 14.6 on Thursday... [YouGov's senior vice president Ted Marzilli] "suggests the issue can be traced to the launch of the iPhone 3GS -- or, more specifically, the network's inability to meet the bandwidth needs of users with the device."

"While the study found AT&T's score to consistently drop over the last three months, Verizon has stayed much the same as it was in January," Hughes reports. "Its Sept. 10 score was 21.2. Scores can range from 100 to -100. A score of zero would mean equal positive and negative feedback."

More info in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: No wireless network was ready for Apple's revolution which brought 10+ million of devices that actually use copious amounts of data coming online within a few short years. Of course, AT&T is struggling with it. Any network would. Especially in the U.S. where the land mass is huge and the terrain varied. Suffice to say, it's much easier to properly cover Belgium*, for just one example (hold the emails, we love Belgium, send beer instead!), than the entire United States of America. AT&T is somewhat unfairly paying the price in perception when any wireless carriers' network would show similar strains. As usual, Apple is pushing forward, disrupting the status quo. It's not pretty, for AT&T especially, but Apple has caused a paradigm shift in mobile computing and more rapid mobile network improvements will come from it.

All that said, the market will take care of this by either forcing overwhelmed AT&T to keep the pedal to the metal and press even harder if they want to keep U.S. iPhone exclusivity or, if AT&T's can't or won't rapidly improve their network capacity/coverage, causing Apple to pursue a non-exclusive U.S. carrier strategy lest iPhone sales and brand perception begin to suffer.

* Belgium is about about the size of the state of Maryland.