Amazon
Amazon keeps it simple and its success is based on strong fundamentals including easy navigation, low prices and the fact that competitors have simply not caught up. The strength of the Amazon Marketplace reinforces this lead in the online retail space. The New Kindle was a major success in 2011 and it may only be the beginning. The Amazon Kindle Fire (more a tablet than an e-reader) will launch in the UK in early 2012 and with an Amazon-subsidised price point below the likely take off point for the tablet market, it is likely that success will continue.View our case study here

Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer remains a ubiquitous and much loved British brand. CEO Marc Bolland is now trying to transplant this goodwill into the mainland European market, with the opening of a flagship store on the Champs Elysées. Alongside attracting a younger demographic, this remains a significant challenge for the company, but the development of its online offering, particularly in areas like homewares, is encouraging.

BBC
The BBC’s multi-faceted provision of information and entertainment is demonstrated by the number of sub-brands that register strongly on BrandIndex. BBC iPlayer, BBC One and bbc.co.uk are at the forefront of the public’s appreciation of the corporation. The budget constrictions that will be faced over coming years are likely to challenge the public’s appreciation but currently the BBC is thriving as a brand within a multi-channel environment.

Google
If you have as many ideas as Google has, it is likely that not all of them will succeed. However although Android is rapidly becoming the de facto software standard in the smartphone market, Google has been unable to replicate the same success in the Tablet marketplace against the Apple iPad ecosystem. Google+ is getting traction but has a hard task to shift Facebook as the default social network. Google search remains as strong as any product that has morphed into a verb.

John Lewis
Like a dog, John Lewis is not just for Christmas but the company certainly saves its best for the holiday period. Buzz about the “please, please, please” advert even topped 2010’s campaign and Ellie Golding’s song of that advert surfed the zeitgeist by providing musical accompaniment for the first dance at 2011’s Royal Wedding. However, John Lewis’s performance is underpinned by a genuine affection for the brand that the seasonal campaigns continually reinforce.

Apple
Although with greater competition Apple could not maintain its heady share of the smartphone market, the iPad beat off all newcomers to remain the dominant product in its category. The untimely death of Steve Jobs gave us a chance to reflect on the stellar success of the company in recent years. Many concluded that the success of the brand meant that we could no longer consider substance and functionality without style. The longer term question is whether this legacy will continue without Jobs at the helm.

Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury's benefitted in 2011 from not being Tesco and managed to win some of the supermarket skirmishes with its Brand Match scheme that worked well. The company also managed to keep the quality message going despite the departure of Jamie Oliver and as we can see from other supermarkets, quality played well in 2011.

MoneySavingExpert.com
MoneySavingExpert.com went from strength to strength in 2011. Frontman Martin Lewis continued to raise the profile of his money saving tips and advice website through various TV appearances and contributions in the written press. With many pundits forecasting a difficult 2012 for the UK economy, Money Saving Expert is set for further growth as consumers continue to tighten the purse strings.

Cathedral City
Probably the biggest surprise riser in 2011, Cathedral City's success shows what a well-designed TV campaign can deliver when it reaches the watercooler. John Lewis has shown what tears during primetime can achieve but this brand managed it in a competitive and traditionally non-differentiated market. A great success.

Waitrose
Waitrose is the poster boy for those brands that have used a quality message to get through the tough times of the last few years. The company has demonstrated that a quality message works and especially at Christmas. The Heston and Delia dream team has been a great success matching the brand values of quality and innovation perfectly.