Best Brands Awards 2026: Here are the winners
from left to right: Marina Moguš (SVP General Manager Central Europe adidas), Evelyne De Leersnyder (VP Operations Germany, Denmark & Finland The Coca-Cola Company), Enita Ramaj (Member of Executive Leadership Team IKEA Germany) and Mario Winter (Vice President Marketing Samsung)
Best Brands Awards 2026: Coca-Cola, IKEA, adidas and Samsung Are the Winners
25.02.2026
Munich, February 25, 2026 – The winners of the Best Brands Awards 2026 have been announced: Coca-Cola was honored as “Best Brand Overall.” IKEA received the award for “Best Experience Brand,” adidas secured first place in the “Best Brand Sports” category, and Samsung was recognized as “Best Brand Smart Technology.”
The awards were presented at the Best Brands Gala in Munich and are based on a representative study conducted by NIQ, in which purchasers from the respective product categories were surveyed.
The Best Brands Awards are organized as a partner event by NIQ, Seven.One Media, Markenverband, WirtschaftsWoche, DIE ZEIT, RMS, Media Impact, WallDecaux, and the Serviceplan Group.
Florian Haller, CEO of the Serviceplan Group, comments on the results of the 2026 Best Brands study:
“At the top are brands that play a clear and reliable role in consumers’ everyday lives. They build trust, provide orientation, and reduce complexity in times that are currently challenging on many levels. The foundation for this is clear brand leadership with a strong brand core that is thoughtfully developed and consistently translated into relevant brand experiences. This creates authentic added value for relevant communities – and thus genuine relevance.”
The winners in the four award categories and the other placings:
Best Brands Gala: Exchange on Brands, Entrepreneurship, Sports and Media
The Best Brands Gala at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof was hosted by Linda Zervakis and brought together around 500 decision-makers from business, retail, and media.
The award ceremony was opened with a keynote speech by former German Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner, who now holds entrepreneurial responsibility himself. In his keynote, he emphasized resilience as a key success factor for brands, especially in dynamic and uncertain times. It is precisely in such phases that it becomes clear which brands will remain successful in the long term:
“In times of uncertainty and upheaval, market share and credibility are either gained or lost. Those with strong nerves invest countercyclically in their brand precisely when people are particularly seeking orientation. Brand communication must not follow volatility but must form its counterbalance,” said Christian Lindner.
A sports panel featuring former professional footballer Christoph Kramer, podcaster and host Tommi Schmitt, and German football national team player Leon Goretzka took to the stage under the title “Beyond the Game – Perspectives from Sport, Business and Society.” The discussion focused on topics such as current fan culture, the role of mental strength, resilience and leadership in professional sports, and the connections between athletic and entrepreneurial performance.
Best Brands College 2026: Brand Experience as a Leadership Responsibility
During the day, the Best Brands College 2026 took place at the Serviceplan Group’s House of Communication in Munich. It was held under the overarching theme “#ExperienceUnlimited: How Brand Experience Creates Stability and Strength for Brands.” High-profile speakers and experts from the nominated brands discussed the role of brand experiences in an increasingly fragmented world.
In her keynote, bestselling author, criminal psychologist and memory researcher Dr. Julia Shaw explored how memory, identity, and storytelling interact, and why emotional anchoring through memories is valuable for brands in the long term.
A panel featuring Oke Göttlich (FC St. Pauli), Felicia Mutterer (FC Viktoria Berlin), and Jasmine Robinson (Monarch Collective) provided insights into purpose-driven strategies that rethink brand leadership beyond the stadium through sustainable investor models and community initiatives.
Image material from the Best Brands Gala and the Best Brands College is available for download here.
Overview of the Best Brands Awards 2026
Best Brands is the only marketing award that measures the strength of a brand based on a comprehensive representative study by NIQ using two criteria: actual economic market success – the so-called “Share of Market” – and the brand’s attractiveness as perceived by consumers, the “Share of Soul.”
The winners are therefore determined not by the subjective judgment of a jury, but exclusively by consumers.
Winners of the Best Brands Awards 2026
Best Brand Overall: Coca-Cola
Best Experience Brand: IKEA
Best Brand Sports: adidas
Best Brand Smart Technology: Samsung
For more information about Best Brands, please visit the website and the official Instagram channel @bestbrands.germany.
