Every year, Morning Consult releases a list that tells you which brands are winning the awareness race, and every year, it's basically a roadmap to what's actually changing in consumer behavior. This year's edition tracked over 5,000 brands, and the results paint an interesting picture for investors: artificial intelligence is everywhere, cryptocurrency is having a moment, and apparently everyone across every generation has finally discovered that delivery services exist.
The Top Twenty Brands Everyone's Talking About
DoorDash (DASH) claimed the crown for 2025's fastest-growing brand among U.S. adults. The delivery platform saw particularly strong gains with older demographics like Baby Boomers and Gen X, which tells you something about how deeply these services have penetrated beyond their initial young-professional base.
Coming in second was Fruit of the Loom, owned by Berkshire Hathaway (BRK). The underwear brand ranked sixth among women specifically, suggesting Warren Buffett's basics are having a renaissance.
TikTok Shop grabbed third place, while Great Value French Fried Potatoes landed fourth. That Great Value showing is notable because it's a Walmart (WMT) private-label brand, and its strong performance likely signals that consumers are trading down to cheaper store brands as inflation continues to bite in 2025.
The artificial intelligence wave showed up clearly: Gemini from Alphabet (GOOGL) ranked sixth, while ChatGPT came in ninth. Both platforms have seen explosive awareness growth as AI becomes less of a tech novelty and more of an everyday tool.
Trading platforms had a strong showing too. Coinbase Global (COIN) landed at number 11, with SoFi Technologies (SOFI) right behind at 12. The crypto winter may have thawed enough for mainstream awareness to grow again.
Other public companies making the top twenty include PepsiCo (PEP) with Tostitos, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) with HBO, Mattel (MAT) with Barbie, and Paramount Skydance (PSKY) with both Pluto TV and MTV. The full top twenty also featured Fanatics, Siggi's Yogurt, Chromebook, WHOOP, Duke's Mayo, Activia, and Breyer's Ice Cream.
Your Age Group Is Showing
The really interesting insights come when you break down brand growth by generation, because consumer behavior looks wildly different depending on when you were born.
Gen Z's top ten fastest-growing brands were dominated by convenience: UberEats led the pack, followed by the New York Times, 7-Eleven, Walmart+, PayPal Pay in 4, Dollar General, Magnum Ice Cream, ChatGPT, Cutwater, and Carl's Jr. This generation apparently wants everything delivered, everything financed in installments, and everything cheap.
Millennials showed different priorities. Coinbase (COIN) tied for first with Epic Games, followed by Spanx, Honda FourTrax, Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature, British Airways, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Buick, and Prada. The presence of Coinbase, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal in the top ten suggests this generation is getting serious about investing and financial literacy. Or at least they're aware these things exist.
Gen X revealed a gaming obsession. Their top ten included H&M, Call of Duty, Apple Intelligence, Great Value French Fried Potatoes, Aflac, DoorDash (DASH), Little Caesars, Barbie, Nintendo, and Coffee-Mate. Call of Duty from Microsoft (MSFT) ranked second, while Nintendo (NTDOY) grabbed ninth place. According to the report, the percentage of Gen X consumers playing console games weekly jumped by 5 points in 2025. Middle age looks different than it used to.
Baby Boomers went for comfort and value: Pringles, DoorDash (DASH), Downy, Old Navy, Breyer's Ice Cream, Sonic Drive-In, Family Dollar Stores, Denny's, Cheetos, and Duke's Mayo. DoorDash's second-place finish with boomers (and sixth place with Gen X) is striking, especially compared to Gen Z's preference for UberEats. Different delivery wars for different generations.
Money Changes Everything
Morning Consult also tracked brand growth by income level, which reveals how spending priorities shift with earning power.
For households earning $50,000 or less, Discount Tire ranked first, followed by Great Value French Fried Potatoes. Value and necessity dominate at this income level.
Once you hit the $50,000 to $100,000 range, DoorDash (DASH) took over as the fastest-growing brand. Apparently this is the income threshold where consumers decide they can afford the luxury of having groceries and restaurant meals delivered to their door.
Above $100,000, Gemini claimed first place, with OpenAI coming in second. This income bracket also showed strong interest in the Amazon Prime Secured Card, AT&T Internet Air, and YouTube Premium. These consumers are paying for premium services and diving into AI tools at a much higher rate than lower-income groups.
The takeaway for investors is pretty clear: AI adoption is wealth-correlated, delivery services have reached critical mass across multiple generations, and consumers are making strategic choices about value brands as economic pressures persist. The brands winning awareness today are likely to be the ones driving revenue tomorrow.