BBC iPlayer, John Lewis and Amazon have come out on top of YouGov’s Brand Index Top 10 UK Brands of 2012 list.
BBC iPlayer managed to oust Amazon from the top spot, knocking the e-commerce site down to third, with retailer John Lewis moving up three places into second place.
Marks & Spencer took a tumble falling two places into fourth position, and consumer finance information website MoneySavingExpert.com broke into the top five, moving from up four spots from its 2011 ranking to tie with Marks & Spencer in fourth place.
The rankings, which are based on BrandIndex Buzz, give a composite score based on the percentage balance of people who reported hearing good versus bad news about a brand. British Airways, British Gas and BP were found to be the top three most improved brands of the year.
“While Amazon has been knocked out of the top spot, likely due to bad publicity for alleged tax avoidance, the fact that it still had the third best buzz of any UK company last year is testament to the strength of the brand,” commented YouGov BrandIndex director Sarah Murphy.
With BBC iPlayer topping the poll the findings show how consumer perception towards the BBC as a whole diverged considerably in 2012. The BBC’s Buzz score first dipped below zero in October following the Jimmy Savile scandal and continued to decline falling to -27 in November. In contrast, BBC iPlayer enjoyed more positive sentiment with a Buzz score of 30.3 for the overall year.
British Airways was top of the improvers list rising 8.7 points, bringing its Buzz score up to 8.2 from -0.4 in 2011. BA was also the most improved brand of 2011, after a difficult 2010 for the airline.
Top 10 Brands 2012 and their 2011 rankings
1. BBC iPlayer (3)
2. John Lewis (5)
3. Amazon (1)
4. Moneysavingexpert.com (8)
5. Marks & Spencer (2)
6. Apple iPad (new entry)
7. Sainsbury’s (no change)
8. BBC.co.uk (new entry)
9. Samsung (new entry)
10. Cathedral City (no change)
Top 10 UK Improvers 2012
1. British Airways
2. British Gas
3. BP
4. ScottishPower
5. Netflix
6. London Underground
7. Scottish Gas
8. EDF Energy
9. Npower
10. Samsung