What changed
Only 14% of 2,801 brands grew consideration; Mr. Pibb ranked first at +11.2 points
When
Report covered September 9, 2026; survey window May 15 to Aug 15, 2026
Who it affects
CPG, grocery, household and consumer brands selling on Amazon and in retail
What to do
Defend branded search, lean on familiarity and value, watch Gen X demand

Key takeaways

  • Only 14% of 2,801 brands grew purchase consideration in Morning Consult's 2026 ranking, down from 94% in 2025.
  • A relaunched Mr. Pibb ranked first at +11.2 points, ahead of Jimmy Dean and Snickers at +4.7.
  • Gen X cut real spending 5.9% and only 9% of brands grew with them.

Fastest growing brands 2026, consideration gain (points)

  • Mr. Pibb11.2 pts
  • Jimmy Dean4.7 pts
  • Snickers4.7 pts
  • Gemini4.6 pts
  • Energizer4.0 pts
  • 7 Brew3.7 pts
  • Sweet Baby Ray's3.6 pts
  • Domino's3.5 pts
Source: Morning Consult, 2026

What Morning Consult measured

The ranking is based on purchase consideration: the share of US adults who say they are considering buying from a brand. Morning Consult compared each brand's consideration from May 15 to August 15, 2026 with the same window in 2025, using daily online surveys weighted to be representative of US adults. Brands needed at least 400 responses in both periods, and 2,801 brands qualified.

This is a demand signal, not a sales ranking, so it shows which brands shoppers are thinking about buying. For marketplace sellers that matters, because consideration is what turns into branded searches and clicks.

Only 14% of brands grew, down from 94%

The headline number is how rare growth was. Just 14% of brands grew consideration in 2026, the lowest share in five years of tracking, after 94% grew the year before. The typical brand lost nearly 2 points, according to the report. Of 1,101 brands tracked continuously for five years, only 40 grew every single year.

Bobby Blanchard, senior director of audience development at Morning Consult, told Marketing Brew that consumer sentiment is down and that many of the brands that grew were brands shoppers already knew.

Brand growth in 2026

14%brands that grew
94%grew in 2025
40 of 1,101grew 5 years straight
-5.9%Gen X real spending
Source: Morning Consult, 2026

Mr. Pibb and the grocery staples that won

Coca-Cola relaunched Mr. Pibb in late 2025 with a new formula carrying more caffeine and a new look. Its purchase consideration rose 11.2 points, more than double the next brands, and it topped nine of its twelve audience rankings, with the biggest gain among Gen X at 15.5 points.

The rest of the top 10 reads like a shopping cart: Jimmy Dean and Snickers at 4.7 points each, then Gemini at 4.6, Energizer at 4.0, 7 Brew at 3.7, Sweet Baby Ray's at 3.6, Domino's at 3.5, Listerine at 3.4 and Five Below at 3.2. Marketing Brew reported that Febreze, Marie Callender's, McCormick, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Duracell, Hershey's, Life Savers, Stouffer's and Knorr also made the top 25. Food Dive noted that carbonated soft drinks, juice, chips and frozen foods grew for at least half of their brands, and that eight of the 25 brands with five straight years of growth were beverages.

Gen X pulled back hardest

The report calls Gen X the pullback generation. Gen X cut real spending by 5.9%, the most of any generation, sentiment fell 13 points, and 46% said they were worse off than a year earlier. Only 9% of brands grew with Gen X, and Marketing Brew reported that the growth that did happen went to bargain channels such as dollar stores and warehouse clubs.

One more signal for ecommerce brands: the share of US adults naming AI chatbots as their most common online research source rose from 2.6% to 9.2% in five quarters, making chatbots the third biggest research channel in the report.

What this means for sellers and brands

The lesson is that in a tight year, shoppers fall back on names they already trust and on value. A new brand can still grow, but it has to earn familiarity first, and an established brand can lose share quietly if it stops showing up where people search.

  • Familiar beats new: a relaunch of a known product with a clear upgrade did better than any new launch in the ranking
  • Branded demand is an asset worth defending, because it is the hardest thing for a rival to buy
  • Value matters more for older shoppers, so pack sizes, coupons and Subscribe and Save offers deserve a second look
  • AI assistants are now a real research channel, so product facts need to be clear wherever shoppers and chatbots read them

Slow growth year checklist

  • Defend branded search terms
  • Review multipacks and value sizes
  • Check Subscribe and Save offers
  • Write listings for AI answers
  • Test Instacart and Walmart ads
  • Track consideration, not just sales

What sellers should do

These steps apply to most CPG, grocery and household brands selling on Amazon and other marketplaces:

Where PPC Spider helps

PPC Spider is an Amazon and marketplace agency. Our Amazon PPC management team and SpiderOS platform monitor bids, budgets, search terms and stock, and set target ACoS from product margin after fees, so a brand can protect branded demand without overpaying in a slow growth year.

Sources

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