The Harris Poll released its 29th annual EquiTrend study, which evaluates brand health across numerous consumer industries including retail, tech, travel and entertainment. Brands are ranked using three criteria: familiarity, quality and purchase consideration, and the top ranking brands receive the Brand of the Year award.Nordstrom beat out Saks for the top luxury department store spot. Kohl’s beat out Macy’s for the top department store ranking. Dick’s topped REI for sporting goods brand of the year. Apple, not surprisingly, beat out Google Android and Samsung for the top smartphone spot.

The Harris Poll analyzed data on over 4,000 brands collected from over 100,000 US consumers. Nordstrom and Apple came out on top for their respective categories, which the Harris Poll attributes to their relationship with millennials, who make up the largest market segment today.Joan Sinopoli, VP of brand solutions at The Harris Poll explained, “With prime earning years still ahead of them and a strong sense of values, [millennials] are dictating culture through the brands they buy. [They] are using their new spending power to explore the world around them, purchase and feather their new nests and take steps to financially protect their growing families.”Apple and Nordstrom are very aligned with their millennial consumers’ preferences.As Sinopoli explained, “Age is certainly a driver of liberal versus conservative values, but there are other fundamental differences suggesting that there is less a divide based on age alone. It’s more of a divide based on ideologies and world views, and we see those values played out for politically and socially active brands.”Both Apple and Nordstrom have taken stands against the government. Apple stood up to the federal government in matters of the right to privacy, and Nordstrom was one of the first retailers to pull Ivanka Trump merchandise.While Sinopoli points out that age is not the exclusive decider of liberal values, Apple and Nordstrom have come out on top as they maintain their core values, which are clearly aligned with their large millennial consumer base.