Coca-Cola scoops top place in ‘power brands’ awards

Coca-Cola has emerged as the overall “super brand” in the UK awards of the same name.

The awards assess and catalogue the relative strengths of 65 of the world’s strongest brands.

Category winners were: Microsoft for business equipment and services; Red Cross for charities; Sony for consumer durables; American Express for finance; Coca-Cola for drinks; the BBC for entertainment, leisure and media; Nike for fashion and sportswear; Cadbury for food; Gillette for healthcare, toiletries and cosmetics; Andrex for household and garden; Virgin Atlantic for holidays and travel; Ferrari for motors; and St Michael (Marks & Spencer) for retail.

Judges of the awards included Chris Powell, chief executive of BMP DDB; Will Whitehorn, corporate affairs director of Virgin Group; Wally Olins, founder of Wolff Olins; John Ballington, corporate and consumer affairs director of Lever Bros UK; and Michael Peters, managing partner of the Identica Partnership. The awards panel was chaired by Marcel Knobil, of Creative & Commercial Communications.

Knobil, who owns the rights to the awards, comments: “A super brand offers consumers significant emotional and/or physical advantages over its competitors which… consumers want, recognise and are willing to pay a premium for.”