Top UK consumer brands of 2017

SuperBrands has released its list of the top consumer brands for this year, as determined by UK consumers.

Here are the top 5, along with a bit of news about each of these leading consumer brands.

5. Gillette - Gillette is facing competition from UK newcomer Harry's, which offers a subscription-based alternative to buying razor blades at retail. Backed by Procter & Gamble, Gillete's traditional strengths are positive brand recognition and product innovation.

4. Andrex - The well-known toilet-tissue brand is celebrating its 75th anniversary with nostalgia-laden marketing. Andrex enjoys high market share and has slightly shrunk its rolls to cut costs and fund product investments.

3. Rolex - Reinforcing its brand's luxury positioning, Rolex sponsors special events like the Rolex Fastnet yacht race and the Rolex Grand Prix at CHIO Aachen showjumping competition. These special events keep the brand top-of-mind in the target market.

2. LEGO - The recent Bricklive special event in Belfast offered LEGO fans the opportunity to build and to watch others build creatively. More than 10,000 brand fans showed up, some to build and many to enjoy seeing the process and the finished results--reinforcing loyalty and engaging fans.

1. British Airways - As part of a trend toward entertaining passengers (and the public), BA recently released a funny safety video starring celebs like Gordon Ramsay, 'Mister Bean' (Rowan Atkinson) and Gillian Anderson. The airline's CEO says he wants passengers to watch the safety video from start to finish. It's also a positive branding association.

The best consumer and business brands in the UK are . . . ?

The Superbrands UK listing for 2015 has been revealed for both consumer and business brands. This is an annual ranking based on input from consumers and marketing experts. And the top 5 brands overall for B2C and B2B in 2015 are:

Targeting Consumers

1. British Airways
2. Rolex
3. BBC
4. Microsoft
5. Nike

Targeting Businesses

1. British Airways
2. Apple
3. Virgin Atlantic
4. Microsoft
5. Visa

As BBC News pointed out, Marks & Spencer is not in the top 20 overall listing of B2C brands, nor is Cadbury. Heinz and Sony aren't in the top 20 overall listing of B2C brands, either. And you won't find Marmite in the top 20 overall B2C brands. These brands have been highly ranked in some years but not this year.

It seems curious that Apple--a super-star brand with global recognition--is only #10 in the consumer listing, compared with Microsoft's #4 ranking on both B2C and B2B lists.