Apple has retained its position as the UK’s top storytelling brand, according to research published by AESOP in association with One Poll.
Cadbury and McDonald’s were second and third respectively, with IKEA moving up six places to fourth and crisp manufacturer Walkers rounding off the top five.
There’s no place in the top 100 for Google – interesting given the daily stories which are told in the Google Doodles – yet YouTube makes the top 10, the highest new entry at #8.
The results proved difficult for the major UK supermarkets, who took a tumble in this year’s ranking; Marks & Spencer fell from 6 to 18, Tesco dropped from 13 to 27 while Asda fell from 27 to 37. The only supermarket which bucked this trend was Aldi, rising 17 places to #20.
It was also a good year for charities – Macmillan (#9), British Red Cross (#10), British Heart Foundation (#15) and Cancer Research (#16) all broke the top 20 as new entrants.
Remarkably, political party UKIP made #11 in the poll, the fourth highest new entry.
Ed Woodcock, director of narrative at Aesop Agency, said that this was the year in which “brand storytelling joined the mainstream.”
He added: “Marketers are waking up to storytelling’s unique ability to engage and make an emotional connection with audiences in an age when they are fully in control.”
MarketingTech has long opined over the power of storytelling in content marketing, with Mike Cook, brand manager of the hugely popular Simon’s Cat series explaining that “it all hinges on a great story, in the end.”
But what’s your view?
The top 20 best storytelling brands:
1. Apple
2. Cadbury
3. McDonald’s
4. IKEA
5. Walkers
6. Coca-Cola
7. Virgin Media
8. YouTube
9. Macmillan
10. British Red Cross
11. UKIP
12. Samsung Electronics
13. Facebook
14. Guinness
15. British Heart Foundation
16. Cancer Research
17. John Lewis
18. Marks & Spencer
19. KFC
20. Aldi
