To round off what has been a year of considerable achievement for the group, the Co-operative picked up four awards when the results of the 2008 Top 100 Brands initiative were announced this week. The four awards included the top accolade of North West ‘Brand of the Year’.
The Co-op’s three other awards were for ‘Most Ethical’ and ‘Best Brand Marketing’ while The Co-operative Bank picked up the ‘Best Financial Services’ brand. And all this in a year when the acquistion of Somerfield was also done and dusted. Such rankings of recognised brands are regularly undertaken on a national or international basis, but this is the only compilation that is undertaken solely for the North West. We all believe the region is home to so many successful brands, it more than deserves its own showcase. This, the second year of the Top 100 Brands, was once again held in association with leading law firm Hill Dickinson and was supported by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) North West and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) North West and Wales. Additional media support was provided by four of Bauer Media’s North West radio stations and the information and analysis for the voting was structured and managed by Ci Research. Comedian John Bishop - a client of Hill Dickinson’s media law team - was the evening’s MC and Edwin Booth, chairman of Lancashire retailer Booths, was the guest speaker. Almost 200 guests from across the North West attended the event at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.
Bishop surprised the audience with his revelation that he used to be a sales and marketing director of a major pharmaceuticals company before adding that his company car was the only differentiating factor between him and some of his peers ‘in related industries’ on the council estate in Liverpool where he grew up…
During the course of an entertaining and encouraging evening which also saw Booth mooing on stage as he light-heartedly took the initiative’s cow theme branding to heart, Bishop concluded by reinforcing his belief in the natural energy and entrepreneurialism of the region’s business folk, which he felt would see the region coming through the downturn in better shape than most.
Two new categories were added this year taking the total number to 14: the new categories were ‘Most Ethical / CSR Focused Brand’ and ‘Best Brand Marketing.’
Tony Wilson, senior partner at Hill Dickinson, said: “This is the second year of our rankings of recognised brands throughout the North West and the fact that almost 1,000 businesses responded to the poll shows the growing success of and interest in the initiative.
“These and many other regional, national and indeed, international brands are based in the region and we’re delighted to recognise their success and the pride the region has in them.”
The short listed companies and winners of the 14 award categories for Best Brand were as follows:
Financial services
Co-operative Bank - winner
Moneysupermarket.com
MBNA
Professional and business services
Swinton Insurance - winner
Freedom Finance
Rathbones
Retail and mail order
Littlewoods Shop Direct - winner
JJB
Matalan
Food and drink
Warburtons - winner
Vimto
Kellogg's
Manufacturing and industrial
BAE Systems - winner
Jaguar
Pilkington
Property and construction
Urban Splash - winner
Bruntwood
Peel
Textiles and clothing
Adidas - winner
Reebok
Nike
Healthcare and pharmaceutical
AstraZeneca - winner
Unilever
Durex
Media, creative and digital
Manchester Confidential - winner
M.E.N.
ITV Granada
Leisure and tourism
Pleasure Beach, Blackpool - winner
Chester Zoo
Liverpool Capital of Culture
Transport, travel and motors
Manchester Airport - winner
Eddie Stobart
Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Best at marketing its brand
The Co-operative - winner
Kukri sports
Urban Splash
Ethical/corporate social responsibility
The Co-operative - winner
Marks & Spencer
AstraZeneca
Bruntwood
Jaguar
Kukri Sports
United Utilities
Top North West brand 2008
The Co-operative - winner
Warburtons
Kukri Sports
The partners in the Top 100 Brands initiative are:
Hill Dickinson
Hill Dickinson is a leading national law firm offering a comprehensive range of legal services from offices in Liverpool, Manchester, London and Chester. The firm has 143 partners and a complement of over 1000 staff.
www.hilldickinson.com
CBI North West
The CBI's mission is to help create and sustain the conditions in which businesses in the United Kingdom can compete and prosper for the benefit of all. We are the premier lobbying organisation for UK business on national and international issues. We work with the UK government, international legislators and policy-makers to help UK businesses compete effectively.
CBI North West
The Chartered Institute of Marketing North West
The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is the world's largest professional marketing body.
CIM North West runs a range of events and courses, which are open to members and non members, and is committed to raising the bar for marketing in the region with the help of its strong, dedicated membership.
www.cim-nw.org.uk
www.cimcymru.co.uk
Ci-Research
Established in 1989, Ci is an independent full service agency that provides market research and consultancy services for the public and private sectors.
Ci operates internationally and has conducted research in over 60 countries world-wide. We have our own telephone unit with CATI facilities, and a regional office in the US.
www.ci-research.com Radio City has 480,000 listeners across Merseyside, the most popular radio station in the city. City Talk was launched in early 2007. It is the only commercial city talk station in England. Rock FM with over 280,00 listeners across Lancashire is the county's most popular radio station. Key103 with over 525,000 listeners is arguably the most successful city radio station outside the capital.
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