LONDON: Apple has been named as the UK's coolest brand, taking first place from luxury car brand Aston Martin in the 2012 CoolBrands rankings.
For the new report, CoolBrands brought together results of a public survey and a panel of 'key influencers' to rank a shortlist of 1,200 brands, scoring each for innovation, originality, style, authenticity, desirability and uniqueness.
Second sport went to YouTube, followed by Aston Martin, which had topped the rankings for six of the past seven years, in third place.
By contrast, luxury brands have fallen out of favour with Maserati, Ferrari, Chanel, Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen among those no longer in the top 20.
"It will be interesting to see next year if the luxury brands fight back," added Cheliotis, "or whether the list continues to feature so many online brands together with the tech giants."
For the new report, CoolBrands brought together results of a public survey and a panel of 'key influencers' to rank a shortlist of 1,200 brands, scoring each for innovation, originality, style, authenticity, desirability and uniqueness.
Second sport went to YouTube, followed by Aston Martin, which had topped the rankings for six of the past seven years, in third place.
The rest of the top ten were, in order, Twitter, Google, BBC iPlayer, the Glastonbury festival, Virgin Atlantic, Bang & Olufsen and department store Liberty.
Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the CoolBrands expert council, noted a shift towards tech and affordable brands.
"It is interesting that in this age of austerity our perception of cool has increasingly shifted from aspirational, luxury brands to free or more affordable brands that provide us with pleasure," he said, adding that "these brands bring us inexpensive entertainment and enjoyment that we appreciate and value highly."
A quarter of the brands are free to use. This group includes YouTube, Google, Twitter, Skype and BBC iPlayer.
Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the CoolBrands expert council, noted a shift towards tech and affordable brands.
"It is interesting that in this age of austerity our perception of cool has increasingly shifted from aspirational, luxury brands to free or more affordable brands that provide us with pleasure," he said, adding that "these brands bring us inexpensive entertainment and enjoyment that we appreciate and value highly."
A quarter of the brands are free to use. This group includes YouTube, Google, Twitter, Skype and BBC iPlayer.
Another 15% cost under £10 to use, including Haagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry's and Vogue.
By contrast, luxury brands have fallen out of favour with Maserati, Ferrari, Chanel, Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen among those no longer in the top 20.
"It will be interesting to see next year if the luxury brands fight back," added Cheliotis, "or whether the list continues to feature so many online brands together with the tech giants."
Data sourced from PA; additional content by Warc staff
