Luxury labels become ‘cooler’ than everyday brands

A number of luxury labels pushed everyday brands out of the annual CoolBrands Top 20 this year, reversing last year’s trend of affordable luxuries dominating consumer favour.

Luxury brands made up 25 per cent of the top 20 (see full list below), demonstrating a major bounce back for the sector, which may be a correlation with the recovering British economy

New luxury entrants into the top 20 included Rolex, Prada and Alexander McQueen, which joined long-time consumer “cool” favourites Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz.

“Everyday affordable brands” which featured last year, such as Ben & Jerry’s, Haagan-Dazs and Vogue have dropped out of the top 20 altogether.

Apple retained the top spot in the twelfth annual CoolBrands survey, despite its recent move to include a more affordable iPhone range.

Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the CoolBrands Council, says: “While Apple remained number one this year, question marks remain as to how long [it] might hold this position in the face of an increasingly competitive set of rivals – much will depend on [its] next few updates and ability to regain the innovation initiative.”

The annual CoolBrands list compiles votes from 3,000 consumers and a judging panel of 38 “influencers” including pop duo Rizzle Kicks, former Libertines frontman Carl Barat and model Daisy Lowe. Panellists rate the brands on the grounds of innovation, style, originality, authenticity, desirability and uniqueness.

The 2013/14 CoolBrands Top 20 List

1. Apple
2. Aston Martin
3. Rolex
4. Nike
5. Glastonbury
6. YouTube
7. Google
8. Twitter
9. Virgin Atlantic
10. Ray-Ban
11. Mercedes-Benz
12. Bang & Olufsen
13. CHANEL
14. Prada
15. adidas
16. BBC iPlayer
17. Sony
18. Sony Music
19. Alexander McQueen
20. Spotify

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