Brits name their most favourite brands

British consumers are falling out of love with several well-established household brand names, including Cadbury, Heinz and Marks & Spencer.

Cadbury could be suffering a backlash as its American owners have tampered with several of its chocolate formulas.

In ranking some 1,500 popular brands, these were all omitted from the top 20.

Customer loyalty to M&S also faltered, kicking it out of the top 20 for the first time since 2009. In swept John Lewis, seizing sixth place. It had been absent from the top 20 for three years.

The Consumer Superbrands survey was drawn up from a poll of 2,500 British adults who were asked to select their favourite

British Airways was named the UK’s top brand. It is only the second time in 20 years that BA took the top position. BA was followed by the luxury watch brand Rolex and then the BBC.

Microsoft and Nike rounded out the top five.

Although the IT giant Google was in the elite top group, it slipped from seventh to 18^th place, its third consecutive drop in popularity. Apple climbed up from 14^th most popular to 10^th.

Newer brands, such as Facebook and Twitter, continued to remain outside the top list.

“Younger brands, such as the social media giants, are sitting on the sidelines making little impact as a huge battle takes place among trusted, traditional brands seeking to remain relevant and retain their positions among the brand elite”, according to the chairman of the Superbrands Council.

“British Airways retaining number one spot is a great example of a much-loved traditional brand that has also refreshed, re-focussed on innovation and invested to remain attractive and relevant.”