YouGov's best performing brands 2020 /

Photo by Jay Wennington on Unsplash

At Most Contagious, senior strategist James Womersley took audiences through the UK’s four best-performing brands, according to YouGov’s UK Best Brand Rankings 2020.

Every year, YouGov’s Best Brand Ranking is calculated on an index score, taking into account factors such as the average of impression, quality, value, satisfaction, and reputation.

Womersley ran through YouGov’s winners in humorous, newsflash style segments peppered throughout both days of our annual event. In case anyone missed it, we have listed the nation’s favorite top four below in descending order. 

Number 4 - Marks & Spencer

At the number four spot was the beloved high-street brand Marks & Spencer. M&S is synonymous with impeccable quality, said Womersley, who cited YouGov’s Richard Moller as saying the brand is one of the most iconic retailers, with tradition and quality at its heart.

Loved for being quintessentially British, said Womersley, M&S has leaned into its national-treasure status in this year’s Christmas campaign headed up by Oscar-winner Olivia Colman. Indeed, the ad’s shots of sumptuous mouth-watering food may well have provided the rocket fuel for M&S’ outstanding quality score, which was only topped by close rival John Lewis, he added.

Number 3 – Visa

Visa took third place with an outstanding satisfaction score – the highest such score from any of YouGov’s top four brands. Womersley drew attention to how Visa’s products have a reputation for working seamlessly and safely in an area fraught with potential anxiety for the consumer.

Certainly, the brand’s reputation for reliability will have served it well during a time of heightened uncertainty and booming e-commerce this year, he added. The brand’s robust quality of offering is supported by well-resourced, high-profile marketing campaigns. Around one in 10 British adults claim to have seen a Visa ad within the past two weeks, ensuring that the brand remains front of mind, according to YouGov. Visa’s willingness to address important social issues – such as supporting UK businesses, as well as its pandemic marketing promoting hand washing – also helped the brand’s impression score, according to Womersley.

Number 2 – Netflix

The runner-up position was taken by Netflix, a brand that is fuelling our current golden age of online television. Netflix’s CEO, Reed Hastings, once said that the brand’s key competitor is sleep – an objective that is clearly helping it compete with some of most powerful brands in the world.

Womersley pointed to the vast scale of high-quality programming that Netflix offers for what is a comparatively modest monthly charge. According to YouGov data, 75% of the British population have a subscription to an on-demand service, and 85% of those users have a subscription to Netflix, with 40% watching content on the platform at least once a day. Even taking into account the effects of Covid-19 and subsequent lock-down, these are impressive numbers.

Number 1 – John Lewis & Partners

John Lewis has cemented its place as Britain's premier brand after topping YouGov’s 2020 Best Brand Rankings for the fourth year straight. Womersley pointed to the brand’s commercial renaissance, which has been helped by the annual tradition of the John Lewis Christmas advert that has established itself in the hearts of the British public.

YouGov’s Richard Moller said that John Lewis is a brand that consumers tend to hold a huge affiliation with, even if they don’t shop there. The pandemic might have had a damaging effect on the brand’s commercial performance, but it has also underlined the brand’s commitment to social responsibility. Indeed, John Lewis’ rallying cry to ‘give a little love’ this Christmas is a warming message from a brand that has become a cultural beacon and a national treasure, Womersley said, adding that the brand was a deserving winner.