For the seventh consecutive year, the Best Brands Awards rewarding the favorite brands of Belgians in 21 different sectors of activity were awarded during a gala evening held on Thursday evening. Distinctions that matter for brands, but also for the consumer. Indeed, it is not the subjective opinion of a jury of professionals that dictates the choice of winners, but the consumers themselves, according to two criteria: Share of Wallet, i.e. the real economic success (the market share , a higher price and the consumer’s first choice) and Share of Soul, or emotional perception (awareness, brand image, experience, customer relationship and potential for cross-selling).
A new category (Best Hybrid Brand), bringing together brands that stand out in both the virtual and real worlds by having, on the one hand, an effective touchpoint strategy (online and offline activity) and, the other, a relevant, coherent content strategy, with a similar and personalized integrated experience. The podium in this category is made up of Samsung, Colruyt and Coca-Cola.
A number of brands confirmed their leadership from one year to the next. This is, for example, the case of Coca-Cola, Samsung, Colruyt, but also of Aveve, Danone, HP, Jupiler, Martini, Miele, Philips or even Royal Canin. The first three brands mentioned also win the “Best Product Scores”, all sectors combined, and Coca-Cola is once once more increasing its “Share of Soul” this year. Among the brands that record the most significant growth between 2021 and 2022, we can also pinpoint Hill’s in the pet food sector, Aperol, Duvel, Carrefour, Axa and even L’Oréal.
If we dwell on certain categories, we see that BMW has dethroned Volkswagen in first place in the automotive category. As for the banks, we should highlight the excellent performance of Belfius, which climbed from fourth place to the top step of the podium, ahead of the favorite bank of Belgians thanks to stronger relations with its customers. Another new winner this year: Ethias. The insurance company moved up two places from third to first place.
Finally, Bol.com also managed to rise to the top spot in its category due to an outstanding brand experience.