Gartner, Inc. has released its list of 2023-2024 Genius brands within the annual Gartner Digital IQ Index, identifying the best-in-class brands across 12 industries.

The Gartner Digital IQ Index is an annual ranking of brands within a given industry based on digital investments and performance. For each brand, Gartner measures hundreds of data points across four digital dimensions – website, digital marketing channels, social media and path to purchase – in a quest to quantify a brand’s digital aptitude and digital maturity relative to its industry peers. The best-in-class brands in each industry are categorized as “Genius brands”.

Thirty-six of the 1,176 brands analyzed were categorized as “Genius” this year (see Table 1). On average, Genius brands achieved 16.5 times more site traffic than their peers in 2023.

“As digital marketing best practices constantly evolve, it’s difficult for CMOs to define their brands’ path to success,” said Matt Moorut, Director Analyst in the Gartner Marketing Practice. “By understanding how the world’s top-performing digital marketing brands differentiate themselves, marketing leaders can refine their own strategies and deliver programs that drive results.”

There are three key differences that set Genius brands apart from their peers:

• Building talent strategies that focus on leveraging technical expertise to drive innovation. Nearly 19% of Genius brands’ job posts for marketing roles contain data science or machine learning keywords, compared to just 3% of their peers’ job postings.
  
• A focus on curating strong brand identities by instilling brand governance across channels. On average, Genius brands have 6.4x more followers and garner 119% higher engagement rates on Instagram than non-Genius brands.
• Prioritizing the most-critical moments in customer journeys when investing in interactive tools that impact customer experiences. Seventy percent of Genius brands offer a guided selling tool (e.g. pricing tool, product finder) compared to 36% of non-Genius brands.

Table 1. The 2023-2024 Genius Brands

Source: Gartner (March 2024)

An organization does not have to be a Gartner client to have their brand be considered in the study. Brands are included based on the volume of their digital marketing activities. The data that informs each Digital IQ is observational and is obtained through manual data collection, proprietary tools and third-party data providers. Brands are scored and placed into one of five classes: Genius, Gifted, Average, Challenged and Feeble.

Gartner clients can learn more in the report: “Digital IQ Index: In the Company of Genius 2023-2024.”  Further information can be found in the complimentary webinar and eBook.

About the Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo

Gartner analysts will discuss the key issues facing CMOs during the Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo, taking place in London, U.K, May 13-14, 2024, and Denver, CO, June 2-5, 2024. These conferences provide marketing leaders actionable advice about the trends, tools and emerging technologies they need to deliver business results. Follow news and updates for the conference on the Gartner Newsroom and on Twitter and LinkedIn using #GartnerMKTG.

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Gartner for Marketers provides the objective, expert advice, and proven tools that CMOs and other marketing leaders need to seize the right opportunities with clarity and confidence, and to stay ahead of the trends that matter. With in-depth research and analysis, Gartner for Marketers helps you focus on the opportunities with the greatest potential to deliver results. More information on Gartner for Marketers is available online at www.gartner.com/marketing. Follow news and updates from the Gartner Marketing practice on X and LinkedIn using #GartnerMKTG. Members of the media can find additional information and insights in the Gartner Marketing Newsroom.