Havas Brand Predictor 2025:Stronger, more relevant, straight to the heart
By 2025, it will no longer be enough to simply be liked. The strongest brands are those that consumers say they would miss if they were to disappear.
This year's Havas Brand Predictor - one of the largest brand studies in Switzerland, conducted in collaboration with YouGov - reflects this development. With over 6,200 participants (an increase from 4,500 last year) and more than 400 brands assessed, the study shows how emotional depth, cultural relevance and perceived momentum differentiate good brands from great ones. The data collected by YouGov is analyzed using the Crunch dashboard, which allows us to examine the individual dimensions such as momentum, trust or recommendation in a clear and structured way.
Twint in the lead - but with less momentum than in the previous year
In 2025, Twint remains the undisputed leader in terms of momentum with the highest value of 73.72. At the same time, the brand recorded the biggest decline of the year (-17.34), indicating a possible saturation point. Nevertheless, Twint remains clearly at the top thanks to its everyday relevance and strong presence. This year's results also reflect a methodological change: we have expanded the rating scale from 4 to 7 points to allow for more nuanced responses and to identify deeper patterns in brand perception. One of the clearest developments: a shift from sustainability to Swissness. Brands such as Ricola (+18.05), Kambly (+17.02), V-ZUG (+24.51) and Swiss meat (+20.91) have recorded strong growth - driven by local identity, trust and emotional relevance.
At the same time, retailers and digitally oriented brands such as Galaxus, Lidl and M-Budget are losing momentum - possibly reflecting a growing consumer preference for brands that are approachable, rooted and culturally relevant. In short: in 2025, Swissness will drive brand momentum - and brands with strong national roots will take the lead.
Dynamics 2025: from hype to heart
The top 20 most dynamic brands of the year reflect a noticeable change in consumer values.
Ricola (+18.05), Kambly (+17.02), V-ZUG (+24.51) and Zweifel (+13.91) are showing a strong upward trend - driven by a clear Swiss identity, emotional closeness and cultural ties. WhatsApp (+24.41) is also celebrating a remarkable comeback, while Schweizer Fleisch (+20.91) and Coop (+14.96) continue to gain in importance.
In contrast, brands that previously stood for innovation and digital convenience - such as Galaxus (-16.61), El Tony (-16.31) and Lidl (-16.34) - are losing momentum
Trust 2025: Trust under pressure
In 2025, the trust scores for all brands fell significantly - partly due to the switch from a 4-point to a 7-point scale. This change enabled more differentiated answers, but also led to lower values overall.
Despite the decline, brands such as Twint, Victorinox and Zweifel remain at the top of the trust scale - showing that brand familiarity and consistency carry weight even in a more critical evaluation environment.
It is also striking that traditional Swiss brands such as Ricola, Le Gruyère and Swiss meat maintain their positions in the top 20. This indicates that local identity and cultural trust resonate strongly even in times of rising expectations.
CMBC: Connect, Meaningful Brands, Content
For the first time, the Brand Predictor 2025 integrates elements of the CMBC study, whose four letters stand for Connect, Meaningful Brands and Content. This framework offers a holistic view of how brands contribute to people's quality of life and create a meaningful connection to them with relevant content and the right channels.
-Connect evaluates the performance of brand touchpoints along the customer journey - and identifies which channels really count from the target group's perspective.
-Meaningful Brands measures how well a brand serves functional, personal and collective needs and highlights the actual brand value drivers.
-Content analyzes the impact and acceptance of brand communication - shows what content is desired and the tonality in which it must be communicated.
In Brand Predictor 2025, we have integrated two new question dimensions to deepen the insights for 50 brands:
-Would you miss this brand?
-Would you recommend this brand to others? If yes, why, if no, why not?
These questions go beyond traditional likeability scores, build a bridge to Havas' global CMBC study, and help to identify emotional attachment, willingness to recommend and perceived relevance. This gives us a deeper understanding of why certain brands are better anchored in people's hearts and minds than others.
"The Brand Predictor 2025 shows for the first time why the 50 strongest brands are so dynamic and trustworthy." - Adrian van Velsen, Head of Strategy, Havas Switzerland
The Havas Brand Predictor is a strategic brand analysis tool conducted annually by Havas Switzerland in collaboration with the market research institute YouGov. The study examines how Swiss consumers perceive brands in terms of dynamism, trust, likeability and - new in 2025 - emotional relevance. With findings from over 6,200 participants and more than 400 brands from 20 sectors, the Brand Predictor is one of the most comprehensive brand perception studies in Switzerland. In 2025, the study was expanded to include new CMBC-based questions such as "Would you miss this brand?" and "Would you recommend it to others?" in order to gain a deeper understanding of emotional attachment and recommendation drivers. A high momentum score indicates growing relevance and cultural momentum, while a high trust score indicates credibility and brand resilience. Together with the momentum factor, the Brand Predictor shows which brands are gaining relevance - and which are at risk of losing relevance. The study provides a solid basis for brand strategy, targeted brand development and competitive analysis - for decision-makers who want to understand which brands really matter today and can grow tomorrow.
