LONDON: The head-turning appeal of Aston Martin's iconic sports cars has propelled them to the top of the UK CoolBrands 2007 poll, the brainchild of international researcher Superbrands.

The British automaker, sold earlier this year by the Ford Motor Company to a private consortium, has been boosted by its association with the James Bond movie franchise - given a new lease of life in its latest Casino Royale incarnation.

The top ten cool brands in Britain are:
  1. Aston Martin
  2. iPod
  3. YouTube
  4. Bang & Olufsen
  5. Google
  6. Sony PlayStation
  7. Apple
  8. Agent Provocateur
  9. Nintendo
  10. Virgin Atlantic
Among the top twenty brands - voted for by more than 2,000 consumers - Italian carmaker Ferrari comes in at number 11, London art gallery Tate Modern is 15th and online retailer Amazon appears at number 20.

Comments CoolBrands council chairman Stephen Cheliotis: "The top twenty is a reflection of our changing needs, wants and interests.

"You could argue that it's split into two pretty clearly-defined categories - on the one hand, things can become cool by virtue of their necessity or prevalence in your life, like Google or Amazon.

"On the other, the things you really want, but may know you'll never get - like a Rolex or a Ferrari - are considered just as cool."

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Data sourced from BBC Online; additional content by WARC staff