The Marketing Society celebrates 50th year by announcing 'Golden Brands' and 'Marketing Heroes'

FMCG

Becky Charles

November 17, 2009

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2-3 minutes

The Marketing Society celebrates 50th year by announcing 'Golden Brands' and 'Marketing Heroes'

LONDON - Brands including Mini and Google as well as industry figureheads such as Procter & Gamble's AG Lafley and Tesco's Sir Terry Leahy, were among those collecting accolades at The Marketing Society's 50th anniversary celebrations in London on Monday night.

From a shortlist of 50 Golden Brands and 50 Marketing Heroes, members of The Marketing Society voted for those brands and personalities they considered to be the greatest.

Apple was named the Brand Most Loved By Consumers following an open vote by more than 40,000 members

of the public as well as The Marketing Society - a result no doubt driven by devoted fans of its iPhone, iPod and computer products.

In other categories, Mini was the Biggest Breakthrough winner. First rolling off the British Motor Corporation production line in 1959, the car has constantly evolved over the past 50 years. More than 1m Minis have been sold since the marque was relaunched by BMW eight years ago.

Microsoft, meanwhile, was voted the Brand That Changed Our Lives Most. Since its launch in 1975, the company's technology products, from Hotmail and MSN to Office and Xbox, have radically altered the way in which consumers work, play and communicate.

Picking up the award for the Brand I Would Most Like To Manage was Tesco. It is now the world's second most-profitable retailer and spends an enviable £80m a year on advertising.

Google scooped one of the most significant awards, for the Most Successful Brand In The Next 50 Years, recognising both the search engine's achievements and potential.

First registering its domain in September 1997, by 2006 the verb 'to Google' had made its entry to the Oxford English Dictionary, an indication of the degree to which it had be-come part of consumers' lives.

The event also celebrated the contributions of talented marketers. Lafley beat academics such as Philip Kotler and entrepreneurs such as Innocent co-founder Richard Reed to scoop the Greatest Contributor To Marketing award.

'It is generally accepted in the UK that marketing in its modern sense really began in the mid-50s with Procter & Gamble,' said Hugh Burkitt, chief executive of The Marketing Society.

Tesco's Leahy, meanwhile, won the Brand Builder award. 'By the brilliance of his understanding of customers and knowing how to make every bit of the marketing mix work a little bit harder he has made his brand not just the number one retailer in the UK but number two in profit in the whole world,' said Burkitt.

Marketing Society members voted Sir Richard Branson the Most Admired Marketer from a list that included luminaries such as the late Anita Roddick and James Dyson.

From the launch of Barbie in 1959, to Aleksandr the Meerkat collecting more than 500,000 friends on Facebook this year, the world has changed considerably, but the role of marketers in creating and maintaining great brands remains their most important contribution to business.