The brands rated highest among affluent executive in the U.S. include many from the travel, financial, and b2b sector. Leading the way, in order are:

 1. Visa  77%
 2. AMEX  74%
 3. Westin  71%
 4. Fedex  70%
 5. Hilton  67%

 Brands rounding out the top 10 in favorability among Affluents :

 6.   Mastercard   66%
 7.   JP Morgan  64%
 8.   Southwest  62%
 9.   Sheraton   62%
 10. IBM      61%

To retain these high rankings, and to continue the dialogue with an audience that changes habits frequently, these established brands, in particular, need to re-invent how they reach out with a compelling message. Currently, financial, travel and b2b advertisers spend the majority of their media dollars in the following:

1. Newspaper    22%
 2. Internet       14%
 3. Cable TV     13%  

 Affluents showed little consistency reporting on the specific reasons they would recommend their favored brands to friends and coworkers, although some traits were mentioned more often than others:

1. Reliability

2. Quality

3. Reputation