CorpComms Magazine

Just five per cent of brands in Britain have a positive impact on our sense of wellbeing and quality of life, and the majority of Brits would not care if more than 90 per cent of brands ceased to exist, according to a recent study by Havas Media.

But the majority of respondents globally would not care if up to 70 per cent of brands disappeared and claim only one in five brands have a positive impact on their sense of wellbeing.

The top five global brands, which are viewed by consumers as vital to their personal and collective wellbeing, include Swedish furniture store Ikea, which topped the list, Google, Kit Kat makers Nestle, yoghurt producers Danone and French-owned DIY store Leroy Merlin. Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Unilever and Samsung also appear upon the list. Surprisingly, Facebook does not appear within the top 20 global brands.

Within the UK, the Meaningful Brand Index found that Marks & Spencer topped the list, followed by supermarket groups Sainsbury's (second), Tesco (fourth) and Asda (fifth). Mobile phone operator O2, coffee chain Starbucks and confectionery groups Mars and Wrigley were also in the top ten.

The findings have prompted Havas Media to launch Meaningful Brands which is a global framework to allow companies to measure and build brand value. Its Meaningful Brands Index, which is based on the views of 50,000 people in 14 countries, compared and tracked the impact of brands on our lives and found a distinct connection between a brand's MBi score and the level of consumer attachment.

For example, on a global basis 65 per cent of consumers felt very attached to Coca-Cola but only 35 per cent felt it improved their quality of life. Indeed, some believed that it impacts negatively on wellbeing.

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