Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Google beats the BBC to become Britain’s Biggest Brand

According to Superbrands 2008 Top 500 report, Google has beaten the BBC to become Britain’s biggest brand.

Superbrands Annual Top 500 report surveys 1,500 professionals and consults a council of senior business leaders to gauge the 500 biggest brands of the year. The brands are judged on their quality, reliability, distinction and overall reputation.

In the report, the BBC fell three places to number four, and were joined in the top ten by Microsoft, BP, GlaxoSmithKline, Rolls-Royce, the Financial Times, British Airways, FedEx and Hertz. Notable absences from the top ten were Apple, which fell from to 11th and BT, which slipped a massive 44 places from fourth to 48th.

CNN also toppled heavily from last year’s report, falling from 19th to just 86th. Bloomberg fell to number 52 from 47th and the Guardian also fell, toppling from 81st to 182nd place. The top ranking advertising agency was Saatchi & Saatchi, which was placed 50th, up six places from last year. M&C Saatchi, the advertising agency set up by Maurice and Charles Saatchi when they left Saatchi and Saatchi, performed less well and came in at 298th.

Stephen Cheliotis, Chairperson of Superbrands, noted that this year’s list was populated by well-established brands, perhaps due to the UK’s current economic instability. 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." Other than eBay, which came in at number 43 in the report, Google was the only business in the top 50 that was established after 1990.

The annual Superbrands report indicates the brands that have "established the finest reputations in their fields and made the most impact on the UK business sector" this year. 

Source:

BBC

Guardian