Research Shows Coca-Cola Is Still The King Of Cool
New research has revealed US brands are still rated as the coolest and most popular, suggesting the growth of anti-American sentiment following the Iraq conflict may have been overblown.
According to the study, which was compiled by the Brand Council, MTV is the coolest media and entertainment brand, Coca-Cola is the coolest drink and DKNY is the coolest fashion and beauty brand.
The report also explored UK consumers’ perception of what and who is cool and unsurprisingly the UK was named the coolest country, while London topped the charts as the best city in Europe.
London’s position as the centre of all things cool in the UK was confirmed, with four out of the five coolest places located in London: The Tate, the London Eye, Selfridges and Japanese restaurant chain, Wagamama.
The survey revealed the fine line between heros and villains, a factor which is becoming increasingly important to advertisers paying huge amounts for celebrity endorsements. Football hero, David Beckham, is both the coolest celebrity of the moment as well as the second “least cool” person of the moment.
Despite the spiralling costs of sponsorship deals, only 32% of people become aware of a cool brand through celebrity endorsements, 56% through advertising and 80% through word of mouth and personal recommendations.
According to the Brand Council, the word “cool” may not be as ephemeral as is often assumed. Over 61% of those surveyed believe that cool brands can often be very mainstream such as Jaguar and Sony. There was also a clear North/South divide, with Londoners being a lot more willing to part with their money in the pursuit of cool than their Northern counterparts.
Commenting on the findings, Stephen Cheliotis, brand liaison director of The Brand Council, said: “Building a cool proposition requires constant innovation, hard work and a real belief in what you are doing.”
A number of rather unusual choices for “brand leader” status were made by the council’s judges, including Land Rover, Scalextric and Scrabble.
The growing spending power of school children aged between 11 and 18 was shown by the latest wave of surveys from youth research group, Vegas, which revealed children are an increasingly lucrative market for advertisers, (see New Youth Research Sends Advertisers Back To School).
The Brand Council: 0207 267 8899 www.thebrandcouncil.org
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