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Budget Rent a Car Wins Customer Loyalty Award

11 February 1999

Budget Rent a Car Wins Customer Loyalty Award for Top Brands in America

    LISLE, Ill., Feb. 10 -- Budget Rent a Car Corporation, the
world's third largest car and truck rental system and a wholly owned
subsidiary of Budget Group, Inc. , was named as the top car rental
brand in the first annual Brand Keys(R) Customer Loyalty Awards for 1998.
    The customer loyalty awards were presented to corporations in 14 major
product and service areas.  Brand Keys, Inc., a brand equity and customer
loyalty consultancy in New York City, created the awards to honor the
companies that over the past year achieved the highest level of success in
anticipating and exceeding customer expectations, which leads directly to
customer loyalty.
    "We were delighted to receive the 1998 award for customer loyalty in the
rental car category," stated Sandy Miller, chairman and CEO of Budget Group,
Inc.  "I attribute this award to the positive results we have experienced from
two new service initiatives Budget introduced in 1998.  In April, we launched
Perfect Drive, an innovative customer loyalty program.  And in August, we
launched Fastbreak, an express service program featuring paperless
transactions.  These two initiatives have had a dramatic effect on customer
loyalty to the Budget brand."
    In addition to Budget, winners of the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Awards
include: American Airlines, airlines; Adidas, athletic footwear; Budweiser,
beer (regular); Amstel Light, beer (light); First Union, retail banks;
Discover Card, credit cards; Brooklyn Union, energy providers; Airborne
Express, express parcel services; Burger King, fast food; Xerox, office
copiers; Coca-Cola, soft drinks (regular); Diet Pepsi, soft drinks (diet); and
US West, telecommunication.
    In conducting the research, Brand Keys interviewed 8,000 people across the
nation.  Respondents were surveyed to determine the strength of their
emotional bond with the brands they use in each of the categories.  Each brand
was rated against the customer ideal in its respective category.  The winning
brand was the one with the strongest performance in meeting or exceeding
customer expectations -- the one with the most powerful brand equity in its
category.
    "Loyalty is the most powerful force driving sales, profits and growth,"
said Brand Keys president, Dr. Robert Passikoff.  "Customer satisfaction
measures traditionally get far more attention, and can be important in their
own way but they are lagging indicators -- like looking through a rear-view
mirror -- while loyalty is a leading indicator.  The reason loyalty has not
been given its due is that, until recently, there was no way to measure it
accurately."
    Over the past decade Brand Keys has developed proprietary polling
methodologies and measurement systems that now make it possible to determine
the extent to which a brand meets or exceeds its customers' expectations.  A
high score on these measures is very closely correlated with repeat-purchase
behavior, the primary benefit of customer loyalty.  "Because customer loyalty
is a leading indicator of profitability, companies who ignore it do so at
their profit," continued Dr. Passikoff.
    Budget Rent a Car Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Budget Group,
Inc., is one of the world's top three car and truck rental systems.  The
Budget system, which operates under the same name worldwide, has more than
3,200 airport and local market locations in over 120 countries and
territories.  Budget has nearly 1,000 corporate-owned and franchised locations
in the United States.  Budget's WorldClass Fleet is comprised of more than 30%
specialty vehicles, ranging from sport utility vehicles, convertibles and
luxury cars to minivans, pickups and motorcycles.