Which brands are the strongest of the year? On April 26, 2022, they will be honored for the 19th time by the Best Brands Awards, Germany's only study-based brand award. The top 10 brands in four categories, which succeeded in securing customer loyalty in the past year, have been determined.

Last year’s awards gala was held purely digital due to Covid-19 lockdowns. This year a live event is planned at the Bayerischer Hof in Munich. Former German President Joachim Gauck will give the keynote speech, and other guests on stage will be Ana Ivanović and Bastian Schweinsteiger. The gala will be moderated by Linda Zervakis.

Munich, March 10, 2022 — Best Brands are brands that are not only commercially successful, but are those that have the power to trigger emotions or become part of consumers’ memories, and are associated with innovations and positive experiences. In a representative empirical study by GfK, the award-winning brands are measured against two criteria: actual commercial market success and the attractiveness of the brand as perceived by consumers.

The Best Brands Awards are jointly organized as a partner event by; GfK, Seven.One Entertainment Group, Markenverband, WirtschaftsWoche, ZEIT Verlagsgruppe, RMS Radio Marketing Service, Media Impact and the Serviceplan Group.

In the past year, the structure of the awards was fundamentally revised in order to provide a flexible platform for both current topics and trends in society and marketing. In addition to the annually recurring "Best Brand Overall" category, brands from specific areas of life that were of particular importance to consumers during the year are analyzed. This year, the "Best Brand Food & Beverages" and "Best Brand Travel" will be honored. The fourth category, "Best Hybrid Brand", honors brands that best succeed in seamlessly linking the virtual and real worlds in their brand experience. 

Michael Müller, President Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, GfK explains: "Shopping behavior has changed significantly during the pandemic, and online shopping has become much more relevant. Consumers are paying more attention to sustainable products, but also to price. The food & beverage sector has grown significantly, but brands have had to respond to many new customer needs. The travel industry, on the other hand, was hit hard by Covid. Brands in this sector are using this opportunity to reposition themselves for the future. For example, our two 'Category Awards' show how brands are successfully dealing with situations of upheaval. With the 'Best Hybrid Brand', we are looking at one of the most relevant brand management topics at the moment for long-term success."

The winners in the four categories, and rankings two to ten, will be announced on April 26 during a gala event at the Bayerischer Hof in Munich, and afterwards in the form of a press release.

During the gala, former German President Joachim Gauck will give a keynote speech on the topic of responsibility and courage. Ana Ivanović and Bastian Schweinsteiger will speak live on stage, and Linda Zervakis will moderate the gala.

Best Brands also includes the Best Brands College, with presentations and workshops by top-class speakers. It will take place on April 26 during the day and will be moderated by Daniel Boschmann. Under the main theme "Building Best Brands in a Hybrid World," experts will talk about effective links between online and offline for an optimal customer experience and a holistic brand experience. More information on the presentations is available here.

About Best Brands:

Since 2004, the Best Brands Awards have become the industry event of the year for business, retail and media. Best Brands is the only marketing award to measure the strength of a brand on the basis of a comprehensive, representative study by GfK using two criteria: the actual economic market success - the so-called "Share of Market" - and the attractiveness of the brand as perceived by consumers, the "Share of Soul. This means that it is not the subjective judgment of a jury that decides on the winners, but exclusively the consumers.

For more information on Best Brands, please visit the Website.

For impressions and information on Best Brands, you can also visit Facebook (@BestBrandsRanking) and Twitter (@BestBrands).

The accompanying hashtag is: #BestBrands