Google is crowned Britain’s Biggest Brand

According to Superbrands’ annual top 500 brands report, Google is now the UK’s biggest brand.

The search engine giant fought off tough competition from the likes of the BBC, Microsoft and Rolls-Royce in the report, which was compiled from a survey of 1,500 professionals, as well as consultation with a panel of senior business leaders. A number of brands that made last year's top 10 dropped out of the top slots, including Apple, which fell from eighth place to 11th, and BT, which dropped dramatically from fourth position to 48th.

Other notable changes in position were Bloomberg, which dropped from 47th to 52nd position, and CNN, which suffered a dramatic fall from 19th place to just 86th. The Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph fell from last year’s position of 86 to just 159th, the Guardian also suffered a big fall from 81st place to 182nd and its sister paper, the Observer, was ranked lower still at 245th.

In the report, brands were judged on their quality, reliability, distinction and overall reputation. Indeed, it is reputation that Superbrands chairperson Stephen Cheliotis believes is of the most importance, particularly as the UK's economy is struggling. He said: "British business opts for what it knows and trusts and as we head toward economic slowdown this is only going to become more important. Reputation is a company's greatest asset and brand-building is likely to become even more critical over the next few years than in the last decade of stability."

Mr Cheliotis was also keen to point out the dominance of well-established brands in the report, which indicate "the power of longevity and familiarity in British business." Britain’s preference for better-established companies was clear in the report with Google and eBay, which came in at 43rd, being the only brands in the top 50 that were established after 1990.

Source:

BBC
Guardian