Our travel may be curtailed right now, but our curiosity about the world is not. Which is why I was pleased to find a collection of maps on the British banking info site BusinessFinancing.co.uk showing what excites people of different nationalities when it comes to global brands.
The info comes from a study that used Google's Keyword Planner to find the most-searched consumer brands worldwide in a number of different categories.
Not surprisingly, Google came in first in overall popularity. The usual tech and retail giants came next: Netflix, Amazon, eBay, and Ikea. No earth-shattering news there.
The data gets more intriguing when it turns to fashion. In that category, according to the report, H&M garnered the most searches, followed by Spanish retailer Zara. But Nike was the most searched fashion brand in more countries (49 to 38 for H&M and Zara), so Nike gets the nod for most popular overall.
Drill down further for insights into individual countries.
For instance, Victoria's Secret is named the top fashion brand in the U.S. Who knew Americans were so into lingerie? Across the border in Canada, meanwhile, they're apparently getting toned by searching for Lululemon athletic apparel—though as we've all learned from working from home these past months, wearing exercise clothes doesn't necessarily mean you're exercising.
In South America, the sneaker wars have their opposing factions, with Brazil searching most often for Nike and neighboring Argentina going for Adidas. ASOS clothing dominates Down Under, while H&M rules supreme in the USSR. Check out the map above or at BusinessFinancing's site for more intel.
(Source: BusinessFinancing.co.uk)
Whether you fit into those duds might depend on how much fast food you're consuming. According to the data, the world's favorites are not the healthy brands. McDonald's has its big red clown shoes firmly atop the list, with double the search volume of closest rivals KFC and Pizza Hut.
Once again, individual countries have unique tastes. Canada is staying loyal to the homegrown Tim Hortons, of course, while Google users in Eritrea, most of the South Pacific nations, and Antarctica prefer Baskin-Robbins. You'd think the South Pole would be too chilly for ice cream.
To explore the maps in detail and learn more about methodology, visit BusinessFinancing.co.uk.
