Cool brands unwrapped (Sitegeist)
The
concept of "cool" can be pretty elusive but when it comes to brands the
CoolBrands list has become the annual arbiter of what's in and out. Abigail Parkin (30 Sept'09)
Apple's iPhone (pic above) was named the coolest brand on the Coolbrands 2009/10 list which was released this Monday. The list was compiled following independent research administered by The Centre for Brand Analysis among influential opinion formers and the British public. The criteria against which brands are judged include style, innovation, originality and desirability.
The top spot has belonged to prestigious car manufacturer Aston Martin for the past three years but iPhone's win reflects the growing importance of technology and gadgetry to the UK consumer.
This is borne out by Apple's positioning generally
across the CoolBrands list with it featuring the iPhone, Apple itself,
and iPod in the top five (at numbers 1,3 and 4 respectively). Apple's
popularity saw off brands such as Nintendo, YouTube and BlackBerry
despite the dominance of technology brands on the CoolBrands list,
with nine of the top ten being technology or internet brands.
Classic
brands such as the Mini car also made the top 20 with the Mini parking
in at number 17. Not bad for a car that first rolled off the production
line half a century ago.
Luxury brands also scored well. Recession or not, Rolex, Dom Perignon and Lady Cool Britannia, Vivienne Westwood made the top 20.
“Aston Martin has finally lost its top spot in the rankings but only just," said Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the CoolBrands council and CEO of The Centre for Brand Analysis. "In fact considering cool is seen to be very fluid and changeable the top twenty shows remarkable consistency with 15 of last year’s top twenty in there again; equally most of the category winners are the same – so much for cool being a fleeting thing."
Virgin
Atlantic was revealed by the Superbrands organisation as the only
travel brand to make it into the CoolBrands Top 20 list.
The airline was the clear winner of the Travel category as decided by an "Expert Council" and 2,458 members of the public. The Council comprises figures such as actress & fashion designer Sadie Frost, broadcaster Edith Bowman and Vogue.com editor Dolly Jones.
Commenting on the plaudit Virgin Atantic CEO Steve Ridgway (pictured)
said “We are delighted to be the only travel company featuring in the
top 20 CoolBrands. It is testament to Virgin Atlantic’s continuing
widespread and international appeal, and demonstrates that we are still
red hot 25 years on.”
Stephen Cheliotis added "Virgin
Atlantic’s inclusion on the CoolBrands List shows that it is the
leading figure in its sector. Competition to be seen as one of the
coolest brands in the UK is as fierce as ever and clearly Virgin
Atlantic is delivering in the eyes of experts
and the public.”
CoolBrands' Top 20:
1. iPhone (up one place) 11. Xbox (up 28)
2. Aston Martin (down one) 12. Tate Modern (down two)
3. Apple (same position) 13. Dom Perignon (down two places)
4. iPod (up 36 places) 14. Virgin Atlantic (down two places)
5. Nintendo (up two places) 15. Ferrari (down two places)
6. YouTube (down one place) 16. Sony (same position)
7. BlackBerry (up 16 places) 17. Mini (up 11 places)
8. Google (down two places) 18. Vivienne Westwood (up 23 places)
9. Bang & Olufsen (down five places) 19. Rolex (down ten places)
10. PlayStation (up five places) 20. BBC iPlayer (New entry)
New entries to the top twenty include the iPod, BlackBerry, Xbox, Mini and BBC iPlayer.
Falling out from last year’s top twenty were Agent Provocateur (down 18), Ducati (down
15), Nike (down 7) and Facebook (down 3), all of whom however remained top of their
respective categories. Also falling out of the top twenty was sports car Lamborghini
which fell 11 places.