Google is top of the 2008 Business Superbrands - Net.Matters - February 2008

According to Superbrand's annual report of the UK's top 500 brands, the search engine Google came top of the list - 5 places better than last year.  Beating the likes of Microsoft, BP and the BBC, Google was rated first for quality, reliability and distinction.  The survey was based on feedback from 1,500 professionals and a council of prominent industry leaders. 

The top 10 corporate brands according to the combined results from both groups are:

 

Rank	Brand
1	Google	Up 5 places from 2007
2	Microsoft
3	BP
4	BBC (Worldwide)	Down 3 places from 2007
5	GlaxoSmithKline
6	Rolls-Royce Group
7	Financial Times	Up 11 places from 2007
8	British Airways	Down 5 places from 2007
9	Fedex
10	Hertz

The results from the professionals taken in isolation produce different rankings:

Rank	Brand
1	BP
2	GlaxoSmithKline
3	Shell
4	Microsoft
5	Hertz
6	Google
7	Pricewaterhousecoopers
8	Visa
9	Rolls-Royce Group
10	British Airways

And the results from just the council yield differences again:

Rank	Brand
1	Google
2	Blackberry
3	Apple
4	BBC (Worldwide)
5	The Economist
6	Nokia
7	Financial Times
8	Virgin Atlantic
9	Microsoft
10	Goldman Sachs

Brands not showing in the combined results top 10 include Apple and BT - slipping a massive 44 positions from fourth in 2007 to forty-eighth this year.

Stephen Cheliotis, Chairman of the Superbrands Council was quoted as saying, "The top ten positions are dominated by companies who are either British stalwarts such as BA and BP - or like GlaxoSmithKline - can trace their origins to the UK".  Google, on the other hand, breaks the mould - having been established after 1990 and has origins in the USA.  Google was judged winner of those brands who had "established the finest reputations in their fields and make the most impact on the UK business sector".  The only other brand established after 1990 to make the top 50 was eBay.

Branding, predicts Stephen Cheliotis is going to be ever more important: "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".

For more information about Superbrands, the programme and which other brands were listed in the top 500, go to http://www.superbrands.uk.com/about/selectionProcess.php