The recently announced, UK’s 12th annual Superbrands analysis saw Microsoft regain the number one position and Apple join the top 10 for the first time.

This yearly analysis of the top 500 brands is carried out by The Centre for Brand Analysis and measures brands not by value but by how much they are trusted by the British public. The brands are judged against three factors, quality, reliability and distinction.

It’s interesting to compare the results of this survey with the top twenty most valuable brands as detailed in a previous blog. There are some similarities, some differences and, of course, in the UK list of Superbrands, positions that may be a surprise to some of our clients in the US and EMEA

This survey defines a Superbrand as having established “the finest reputation in its field,” offering “significant emotional and/or tangible advantages over other brands, which customers want and recognise.”

Around 1,400 brands are considered by a panel of experts and more than 2,000 UK consumers take part in the voting.

The Top Twenty Five:

1 Microsoft
, 2 Rolex, 3 Google
, 4 British Airways, 5 
BBC
, 6 Mercedes-Benz
, 7 Coca-Cola, 8 
Lego
, 9 Apple, 10 Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Virgin Atlantic, 12 Duracell, 13 Marks and Spencer, 14 Philadelphia, 15 Dulux, 16 BMW, 17 Colmans, 18 Dyson, 19 Ordnance Survey, 20 Nintendo, 21 Jaguar, 22 Sony, 23 BP, 24 Fisher-Price and 25 Andrex.

Last weekend, I took the opportunity to visit the ‘controversial’ Banksy versus Bristol Museum exhibition. For any cultural hermits, Banksy gained notoriety by using stencils to paint images on a diverse array of outdoor locations – graffiti in other words. The Banksy exhibition presents a considerable body of work and many 3D pieces which were unfamiliar to me. I’m not going to add my opinion to the “is this art, debate? But look at what appeals to me, professionally. He’s a great communicator. A populist, where his work is instant and immediate and not highbrow. You may not like the contemporary subject matter, or his medium, but you cannot argue with his creative power of expression. There’s satire, there’s wit, there’s social criticism. Delivered invariably by the juxtaposition of images and double meaning, all of which is very hard to do, and do well.

He’s a modern day William Hogarth and our streets (and museums) are a better place because of Banksy.