Following on from a great weekend for its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus handsets, Apple has been named the coolest brand in Britain for the third year running.
The CoolBrands list is voted for by 2,000 consumers, alongside a panel of 37 people described as “key influencers” — including models Sophie Dahl and Jodie Kidd, and the fashion designer Julien Macdonald.
Voters are asked to consider a brand’s style, innovation, originality, authenticity, desirability and uniqueness when making their choices.
Apple’s top ranking comes shortly after reports that the company is trying to embrace the fashion world more than ever — inviting numerous fashionistas to the recent Apple Watch unveiling, while also hiring Paul Deneve, the former CEO of Yves Saint Laurent and former Burberry CEO to play key roles under Tim Cook.
But CoolBrands is keen not just to be seen as the fashion world’s “so 2014″ pick of what’s hot, however.
“The idea that CoolBrands is about fads and short-term reputational success is ripped apart by the solid performance and dominance of regular top 20 brands such as Aston Martin, Chanel and Nike,” says spokesman Stephen Cheliotis.
This year’s list also sees Instagram make its debut at number 14, Netflix break the top 20 for the first time, and technology company Bose make a reappearance. Twitter, meanwhile, fell off the list.
“[I]t was refreshing to see unique and original brands such as Instagram and Netflix join the top 20,” Cheliotis says. “Both have had an impact on the market, shaking up the status quo and forcing rivals to up the ante. Apple, however, continues to dominate the listing and remains untouchable for now.”
The full 2014/15 CoolBrands top 20 can be seen below:
Apple
Aston Martin
Nike
Chanel
Glastonbury
YouTube
Dom Perignon
Rolex
Netflix
Bang & Olufsen
Ray-Ban
Alexander McQueen
Bose
Liberty
Selfridges
Sony
Virgin Atlantic
Stella McCartney
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
3 responses to “Apple beats Aston Martin to be named ‘Coolest Brand’”
brand’s style, innovation, originality, authenticity, desirability and uniqueness. Woow where is Ferrari idiot voters??
Either participants have bad taste or its a fix. I vouch for option ‘B’.
Serious? Aston Martin is up there? They haven’t released a truly new vehicle in years! They keep just repainting their Vantage and calling it ‘new’.