These are the best UK brands for 2016: British Airways tops list with Rolex, Dyson and Google behind
An annual survey of brands has named the top 20 consumer Superbrands, with airline British Airways retaining the top stop and BBC falling out of the top 20 for the first time.
British Airways fended off nearly 1,600 brands to claim the top spot for the third year, while Lego, Rolex and Dyson mounted a challenge on the leader.
Rolex retained the second spot for the third year running, but faced increased competition from Lego, which jumped eight places.
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Following high profile advertising campaigns fronted by eponymous entrepreneur James Dyson, Dyson climbed ten places to fourth.
BBC came under fire despite being placed in the top five for eight of the past nine surveys, due to attention on the organisation’s funding, perceived “attacks” by the government and negative perceptions of its coverage of the Scottish independence debate.
Technology companies have meanwhile lost momentum, with Google well off its historical highs at 16th, with Facebook’s rank continuing to fall, nowhere to seen in the top 20. Microsoft was the biggest faller, dropping 16 places.
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The top 20 remains consistent year-on-year, suggesting that the years of financial crisis have seen voters shun relatively new brands – however disruptive they are – for the comfort of the traditional establishment.
“Traditional brands continues to defy expectation that some challengers, such as technology enabled or social based brands, would break through. In fact the reverse is true, with conservatism evident among the British public after years of crisis,” said Stephen Cheliotis, chief executive of The Centre for Brand Analysis, which compiled the results on behalf of Superbrands UK.
“Although change may be accelerating in many markets, changes in perception are much slower to come through. Consumers are continuing to seek out familiar brands with which they have an emotional connection,” he added.