Are Unity and Zillow Resilient Brands?

Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing

The Motley Fool

Investing, Business

4.3 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2026

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why do companies with strong consumer appeal tend to outperform? The team breaks down the elements of a resilient brand and then uses that lends to discuss recent financial results from Unity Software (NYSEL U) and Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z). Alicia Alfiere, Rick Munarriz, and Tim Beyers discuss: - The thinking behind David Gardner's fifth trait of a Rule Breaker: strong consumer appeal. - The world's most valuable brands and what makes the best brands resilient. - What fresh results from Unity Software and Zillow say about the resiliency of their brands. Don’t wait! Be sure to get to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of David’s Gardner’s new book — Rule Breaker Investing: How to Pick the Best Stocks of the Future and Build Lasting Wealth. It’s on shelves now; get it before it’s gone! Companies discussed: AMZN, MSFT, AAPL, U, Z Host: Tim Beyers Guests: Alicia Alfiere, Rick Munarriz Producer: Anand Chokkavelu Engineer: Dan Boyd Disclosure: Advertisements are sponsored content and provided for informational purposes only. The Motley Fool and its affiliates (collectively, “TMF”) do not endorse, recommend, or verify the accuracy or completeness of the statements made within advertisements. TMF is not involved in the offer, sale, or solicitation of any securities advertised herein and makes no representations regarding the suitability, or risks associated with any investment opportunity presented. Investors should conduct their own due diligence and consult with legal, tax, and financial advisors before making any investment decisions. TMF assumes no responsibility for any losses or damages arising from this advertisement. We’re committed to transparency: All personal opinions in advertisements from Fools are their own. The product advertised in this episode was loaned to TMF and was returned after a test period or the product advertised in this episode was purchased by TMF. Advertiser has paid for the sponsorship of this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What makes for a resilient brand?
0:07.1	You're listening to Motley Fool Money.
0:24.1	Welcome, Fools. I'm your host, Tim Byers, and with me are two of my Rule Breakers teammates, Alicia Alfieri, and Rick Guinearas. Thanks for being here, Fools. We're recording
0:28.2	on Thursday, February 12, since you may be listening to this on the President's Day holiday.
0:32.0	We've had quite a week of earnings reports, especially for Rule Breakers companies. And we're
0:36.1	going to get into a couple of them
0:37.9	a bit later, but we need to talk about the fifth trait of a rule breaker. And that is strong consumer
0:43.4	appeal. What does it mean to have strong consumer appeal? And can it help to sustain business and
0:48.1	stock performance and volatile markets like the one we're in right now? So I want to talk about
0:53.2	this, fools, and I pulled the interbrand data.
0:58.2	This is from the 2025 Interbrand Survey, the world's most valuable brands, and there are some
1:04.2	big names and some big numbers on here. So I'm just going to give you top three. Apple, Microsoft,
1:10.0	Amazon, no surprises there. But
1:12.4	the Apple brand worth just about 471 billion, that was actually down 4% year over year. Microsoft
1:20.7	388.5 billion, that was up 10% year over year. And Amazon at 319.9 billion, and that was up 7 percent year over year.
1:30.1	So let me ask you both.
1:31.7	And I've got more data on this, but I want to start you guys off.
1:34.8	And Alicia, I'll start with you.
1:36.7	When you think about the fifth trade of a rule breaker, strong consumer appeal, what do you
1:41.6	think about in terms of maybe let's call it a resilient consumer brand?
1:46.9	What defines it for you? Yeah. Well, I think a resilient consumer brand is one that has a clear
1:53.4	focus and has been able to build some kind of connection with the consumers through their
	...

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