Apple still the king of cool, Twitter losing touch

AAP
Sep 22, 2014, updated Jan 25, 2021

AAP

Apple has retained its title as the coolest brand in Britain for the third year but Twitter has fallen out of favour to make way for rival Instagram, according to an annual survey.

The CoolBrands list has seen Twitter drop out of the top 20, ending a three-year stint, while Instagram made its debut on the list at number 14.

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Streaming service Netflix has also broken into the top 20 for the first time.

Destination retailers Liberty and Selfridges are back on the list after a one-year absence, as is technology brand Bose.

Luxury fashion brand Stella McCartney has also re-entered the top 20, alongside the champagne label Dom Perignon, which regained a place on the list after a three-year absence.

A total of 13 brands retained their top 20 status from last year, including Chanel, Aston Martin and Nike, but those falling out of favour include Italian fashion giant Prada, Adidas and the BBC’s iPlayer.

The list is voted by 2,000 consumers and a panel of 37 “key influencers”, which this year included the models Sophie Dahl and Jodie Kidd and the fashion designer Julien Macdonald.

Krispy Creme Donuts, Laurent Perrier, Lavazza, Linda Farrow, ME London, Mercedes-Benz, Movenpick Ice Cream and Nars were just some of the brands who were in the running for the title. None of them cracked the Top 20 super brands. Photo: CoolBrands

Voters were asked to bear in mind style, innovation, originality, authenticity, desirability and uniqueness when listing their brand selections.

CoolBrands spokesman Stephen Cheliotis said: “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.

“If anything, this year’s rankings illustrate that a solid reputation is hard to undermine or, in the case of rivals, overcome.

“That said it was refreshing to see unique and original brands such as Instagram and Netflix join the top 20.

“Apple, however, continues to dominate the listing and remains untouchable for now.”

The 2014/15 CoolBrands top 20:

1. Apple

2. Aston Martin

3. Nike

4. Chanel

5. Glastonbury

6. Google

7. YouTube

8. Dom Perignon