The annual Superbrands listings for 2017 have been released for the strongest business-to-business brands in the UK.
The brands are judged on three criteria, quality, reliability and distinction by a panel of 30 leading B2B marketing experts, including our own Louise Proddow, and a poll of 2,500 consumers across the UK.
Superbrands, which have been annually publishing listings of the UK’s strongest brands since 1995 define a superbrand to have “established the finest reputation in its field. It offers customers significant emotional and/or tangible advantages over its competitors, which customers want and recognise.’
The Top 5
Tech brands dominate the leaderboards, occupying four of the top five places.
- British Airways
- Apple
- Microsoft
- Paypal
British Airways came in the top position for the fourth year running for B2B brands and also retained the top spot for the B2C brands. Surprisingly, no social media networks ranked in the list.
Stephen Cheliotis, chief executive of The Centre for Brand Analysis (TCBA) commented, explaining the table leaders tend to be, “traditional stalwarts of UK life… this is evident from consumers still favouring British Airways, returning it again as the UK’s leading Superbrand despite its recent challenges.”
Apple remains a strong contender, placing second which was their best performance since 2011.
Microsoft moved up to third, displacing Paypal, illustrating the success and high growth of their cloud solutions. Microsoft’s cloud sector grew 8% to $6.9bn and Azure is still growing exponentially, with 93% growth while usage is doubling once again year-on-year.
Cheliotis concludes, “In what can only be described as a significant year of change, the UK public have very much opted for brands that represent continuity, consistency and comfort.” Which could be the post-Brexit factor, with consumers trusting heritage brands more in a time of change.
For more information visit: www.superbrands.uk.com
