Here's a list to warm the cockles on a cold winter's day. According to a report by the advertising agency Isobel, the UK's top ten "family brands" are as follows: Boots, Co-op, Fairy, Warburtons, BBC1, M&S, Waitrose, Tetley Tea, BBC2 and Hovis. How nostalgic. Reading it, I feel as if I'm having some sort of Life On Mars experience and have travelled back in time to the Seventies and a world of terrestrial TV, friendly retail chains, tea-drinking chimpanzees and bicycles on cobbled streets. If only Bisto were on the list I could justify a quick "Ahh".
The report was based on a poll of more than 1,500 adults and aims to identify brands "that promote and support family values". Clearly copper-bottomed legacy brands have an innate advantage in surveys such as this, but it's interesting to note that even some old favourites can lose their edge. Cadbury has dropped out of the top ten this year, falling from 9th to 16th overall, and it's perhaps no coincidence that this was the year in which it was taken over by US firm Kraft. Job losses tend to leave a bad taste.
The big question is, who will be the cosy legacy brands of the future? One clue comes in the shape of Facebook, which has surged up the rankings, leaping from 69th to 43rd overall. The social media behemoth is particularly liked for its social responsibility and for being a good listener.
So there you have it. A trip to the past and a glimpse of the future: cuddly old, family-friendly Facebook. Those of you who have seen the recent film The Social Network will realise that that's quite some leap.
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