Vodafone has been named as the UK’s most valuable brand in the top 50 brands of British origin, pushing last year’s leader HSBC off the top spot.

The telecoms company boasted a brand value increase from £17.03bn to £17.93bn since last year’s survey, leaving HSBC at £17.6bn. Other notable entries were Tesco in third place, and Orange and Shell in fourth and fifth positions respectively.

All results show strong performances from the telecoms, retail and finance sectors, with three telecoms brands in the top ten and five out of six finance brands in the survey increasing in value. Nine out of the ten main retail brands also made the top 50, with brands such as Asda and The Co-operative moving up the rankings.

So what’s helped Vodafone clinch the top spot this year? David Haigh, chief executive of Brand Finance, points to the brand’s international exploits in developing economies such as Africa and India.

He said: “Vodafone in particular has done very well this year. But it isn’t necessarily because of its performance in the UK but because of its performance globally.”

The brand’s omnipresence in the UK is also to thank for Vodafone’s success, says Vodafone brand agency Added Value. Customers are said to be drawn to the brand as a reassuring and reliable British institution in difficult economic conditions.

High-profile involvement with British F1 drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton will not doubt have contributed to this, as well as work with London Fashion Week.

Marketing Week’s article on the report interestingly points out the performance of BA and BP, two brands that have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently. Despite BA falling four places to 37th and BP one place to 7th, the stats still don’t show the impact of the airline’s strike problems or the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Next year’s results will surely show the true strength of the companies’ brands, testing their resilience and customer loyalty.

On a final very positive note, the top 50’s value is up on last year, rising from £166bn to £199bn, and showing encouraging signs for what is looking like a rocky road ahead.
For a review of the full report, visit www.marketingweek.co.uk.

On a recent trip to Brussels, MC2 fell in love with Vedett beer’s latest social marketing campaign – customise your own bottle!

The premium Belgium beer brand came up with the genius idea of getting customers to upload photos of themselves, which are then featured on over 10,000 bottles of Vedett, distributed countrywide.

The idea has not only made the brand hugely popular with consumers but is also a clever way of driving them to the company’s website.

MC2 is definitely going to be stocking up with Vedett’s ‘Customise a Crate’ option, just in time for Christmas!