Working Class Brands

 Working Class Brands

1. The Sun
2. Iceland
3. McDonalds
4. KFC
5. Asda
6. The Labour Party
7. easyJet
8. ITV
9. Alton Towers
10. PizzaExpress


11.4m of British people view themselves as Working Class, which is now less than 1/4 of the total population compared to 33.6m who views themselves to be Middle Class (71%). As a population we now aspire to climb the social ladder and put ourselves as far away as possible from “the Chav”, "Benefit Spongers" and Yobs of Society.

So surely it would make sense for brands and marketing agencies to be targeting the middle class, with more disposable income, higher aspirations for example. NO. Is the answer put forward by BritainThinks. The working class are more loyal to their brands of choice, are more willing to engage on an emotional level with their brand and 'believe that their brands of choice "understand" them better as people.


The Middle Class are now 64% more likely than Working Class to research and compare between brands before purchasing and wealthy families are the group that will cut their spending the most over the next three years – households with an annual income of £62,000 or above, will be spending £2,700 less annually on products and services in 2014-2015.

So despite decreasing numbers of working class people in Britain, it makes sense to keep these loyal brand warriors on-side! Effective marketing, understanding the consumer and strong relationships between consumer and brand is the way forward for our working class brand 'heroes'.


(July 2011, Marketing Magazine and Britain Thinks)