More than half of Australians ignore brand names when buying products, study finds

New research from SAP Emarsys and Deloitte shows that a majority of Australians are actively ignoring brand names when buying everyday consumer goods, a stark signal for marketers in an era where functionality and price outweigh brand power.

The research, part of the Consumer Products Engagement: Australia study, surveyed more than 2,000 local consumers and 100 senior marketers, highlighting a widening disconnect between brand loyalty and consumer behaviour. It comes amid continued cost-of-living pressures, with 60% of Australians switching to own-brand alternatives and 55% saying the quality of these private labels matches or exceeds that of national brands.

The report introduces a new Customer Engagement Maturity (CEM) score that ranks how effectively consumer product brands are engaging customers. Only 15% of brands were found to be successfully operating in what SAP calls the “engagement era” marked by real-time, omnichannel engagement and a unified data strategy.

That group includes brands like Krispy Kreme and Ferrara, both of which use SAP’s customer engagement platform to personalise marketing and unify their digital experiences. Krispy Kreme, for example, reported a 53% lift in lead generation and significant gains in multi-channel engagement.

Despite 84% of marketers claiming their organisations can predict customer behaviour, just 16% are actually using those insights. Similarly, while 49% say they’re capable of engaging consumers in real time, only 30% are doing so.

“Aussie consumers aren’t just becoming less loyal to brands - they’re ignoring them entirely,” SAP Emarsys CMO Sara Richter said. “Without a strong data foundation, it’s impossible to deliver the real-time, personalised experiences needed to achieve that all-important ‘true’ loyalty.”

The study also found that 79% of marketers believe their engagement strategies need a major overhaul in 2025, but only 26% said their brand is effectively personalising content and campaigns.

SAP Emarsys argues that successful brands will increasingly be those that combine ERP systems with predictive, AI-led engagement platforms, giving marketing and operations teams a unified view of the customer journey. Currently, only 33% of marketers have integrated engagement data with broader financial or operational platforms.

For brands still relying on static, batch-style campaigns, the warning is clear: real-time, data-driven personalisation is no longer a competitive advantage - it’s the cost of staying relevant.