Best Brands 2025: Celebrating the Top 10
Best Brands 2025: Celebraiting the Top 10
20.01.2025
- Brands that resonate emotionally and perform economically will take center stage on February 26, 2025, at the Best Brands Awards in Munich. This prestigious event honors brands that excel not only in market success but also in inspiring consumers on an emotional level.
- Held at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, the awards gala will celebrate winners across four categories, determined by a comprehensive NIQ/GfK study. From over 500 brands across approximately 60 sectors, the top 10 have now been revealed.
- The evening will feature a keynote by former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and a special musical performance by Fritz Kalkbrenner, adding to the celebration of exceptional brand achievements.
Munich, 20. January 2025 — The Best Brand Awards, a partner event organised by NIQ/GfK, Seven.One Entertainment Group, Markenverband, DIE ZEIT, RMS, Handelsblatt, Media Impact, WallDecaux and the Serviceplan Group, put the spotlight on the most successful brands of the year. The awards in the four categories are based on a comprehensive, representative study by NIQ/GfK, which assesses brands on the basis of two key criteria: their commercial success and their emotional resonance with consumers. The winners are therefore not determined by a jury, but by the consumers themselves.
In addition to the ‘Best Brand Overall’, the most popular brands from specific areas of life are honored by consumers. This year, the ‘Best Employer Brand’, ‘Best Brand Gen Z Food & Beverage’ and ‘Best Brand Luxury’ will be honored.
‘This year, we are honoring brands that not only survive in a time full of crises and challenges but also develop a radiance that inspires and connects even in turbulent times. For example, the winners of the ‘Best Employer Brand’ category provide important impetus for the future of the world of work or, like the ‘Best Brand Gen Z Food & Beverage’ brands, manage to tap into the pulse of Gen Z and anchor themselves in the minds of the younger generation’, says Michael Müller, Managing Director NIQ/GfK Germany.
The following top 10 of the four categories were determined based on the NIQ/GfK study (listed in alphabetical order, see chart below).
On the evening of 26 February 2025, the winners of the four categories and the other placings will be honoured at the awards ceremony at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich and subsequently announced in a press release.
As a special highlight, former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin will open the evening with a keynote speech on the topic of ‘Leading together: Building a resilient future for the next generation’. Sanna Marin gained international attention for her progressive politics and commitment to equality. When she became prime minister of Finland at just thirty-four years old, Marin was the world's youngest serving prime minister at the time. In addition to the historical challenges during her term, Marin’s government passed many progressive reforms in Finland concerning climate, education and healthcare.
Another highlight of the programme is the performance by German musician and producer Fritz Kalkbrenner. The evening will be hosted by presenter and journalist Linda Zervakis.
Best Brands College 2025: On the pulse of Gen Z
Before the evening gala, the Best Brands College, a one-day congress with a high-calibre line-up, will take place at the Serviceplan Group's House of Communication in Munich. On 26 February 2025 from 9 a.m., renowned speakers will discuss under the umbrella topic: ‘On the pulse of Gen Z: How brands and employers can win over this generation.’
This year's keynote speech on the topic ‘Stop talking - How Gen Z is shaking up the labour and consumer market’ will be held by newsfluencer, presenter and activist Fabian Grischkat. The final highlight of Best Brand College 2025 is a panel discussion with the Head of Hip-Hop at Amazon Music, Sehriban Cirik, and the rapper and actress Nura, on the topic: ‘Hip-Hop as a Mindset: Staying with the Youth, Redefining Boundaries, and Broadening Reach.’ The event will be hosted by Daniel Boschmann.
More information on the lectures can be found here.
About Best Brands:
Since 2004, the Best Brands Awards have become the industry event of the year for business, retail and media. The brand award is now also presented annually in Italy, Belgium, France and Poland. Based on an extensive representative study by NIQ/GfK, Best Brands is the only marketing award that measures the strength of a brand according to two criteria: the actual economic market success - the so-called ‘share of market’ - and the attractiveness of the brand in the perception of consumers, the ‘share of soul’. This means that it is not the subjective judgement of a jury that decides the winners, but exclusively the consumers.
Further information on Best Brands can be found on the website.
You can also find impressions and information on Best Brands at Instagram (@bestbrands.germany).
The accompanying hashtag is: #BestBrandsGermany
