Netflix named 'most-improved' brand of 2020 but John Lewis remains UK favourite

Heinz drops out of top 10 and Ikea falls to seventh place in YouGov rankings.

Netflix: platform launched global campaign earlier this year
Netflix: platform launched global campaign earlier this year

Netflix has once again become the most-improved brand of 2020 as the nation has been stuck indoors for much of the year because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The survey by YouGov also found that high-street staple John Lewis has continued to impress consumers, holding on to the top spot.听

YouGov鈥檚 Best Brand Rankings聽measures overall brand health based on聽impression, quality, value, satisfaction, recommend and reputation.听

The report gave Netflix a score of 42.2 (a rise of 7.1 from last year) and placed it behind John Lewis.听It is the fourth consecutive year that John Lewis has claimed the top spot, with a聽score of 42.6 鈥 1.4 points higher than last year.

Amelia Brophy, head of account management UK at YouGov, explained that, although John Lewis has faced financial hardship this year in having to close stores and making job cuts, "the rankings show the power of a strong brand".

Last year鈥檚 fourth-placed brand Heinz has dropped out of this year鈥檚 rankings altogether, in spite of creative work to mark聽Veganuary聽and a campaign highlighting the issue of聽child hunger聽in the UK.

Ikea has also fallen down the rankings, from second place in 2019 to seventh this year, even though it achieved a higher score this year than last year, up from 38.9 to 41.1. "This appears to be because other brands have significantly improved, rather than Ikea's own failings," the report said.听

The rise of Netflix

While many brands have struggled in light of the coronavirus pandemic, Netflix has benefitted from an influx of consumers being forced to stay at home.听聽

The platform has collaborated with film score composer聽Hans Zimmer and Magic radio this year alone, and brought its binge-worthy content to the fore in a global campaign聽by AKQA which launched in September.

Brophy said:聽鈥淭he streaming giant has released a stream of exclusive programmes and films throughout lockdown, earning itself second place in our UK rankings, the most-improved brand in the UK and the sixth-best brand in the world.

"Undoubtedly, the coronavirus crisis has created a changing consumer market that will require brands to listen to consumer needs and wants and change accordingly 鈥 Netflix has achieved this and has subsequently significantly improved its standing from our 2019 rankings.鈥澛

Globally, tech brands dominate the rankings as聽Google聽took the top spot, followed by聽WhatsApp,听YouTube,听Samsung听补苍诲听Amazon.听

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