The rankings presented last night, the result of 6,000 interviews for a total of 16,000 evaluations collected by GfK and compared with sales data, are clear: today you cannot be a Best Brand if you are not a friend of consumers.

Milan, March 8, 2023 - The eighth edition of Best Brands, which concluded last night with the presentation of the 5 rankings for 2023 - Best Product Brand, Best Growth Brand, Best Sustainability Brand, Best Phygital Brand, and Best of the Best - and the designation of the top-ranked brands for each category - breaks into the world of communication and marketing, bringing a lesson that will leave its mark: there is no Best Brand that is not also a Best Friend.

The era of brands interpreting their presence in the market as a conquest, hitting consumers one after another, is definitively over. The need for a "biunivocal relationship" (as defined by Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi, President of UPA, in introducing the 2023 edition of Best Brands) between brands and their users/consumers is now clearly established: brands must convince rather than conquer through shared good practices, primarily based on values such as sustainability, accessibility, concreteness, transparency, and truth.

The 2023 edition has therefore chosen the theme "Best Friends": the best brands are increasingly present in the daily lives of consumers, playing a responsible role within communities, towards a future characterized by the centrality of the individual as an end, never as a means, according to the principles of society 5.0, which places human well-being at the center of any progress. Trust, authority, and credibility are the characteristics that brands must convey in their new role as "Best Friends," the best way to be "Best Brands."

From the research results and the work carried out in recent months by the Best Brands Club, a true decalogue of the values that make a brand feel like a friend can be drawn.

1. Brands and consumers are not opposed, but walk side by side.

2. The key to success lies in people, not just consumers.

3. Everyday life is the new territory of dreams.

4. Improving the world we live in is more important than building a new one through advertising.

5. Sustainability is a shared value when it translates into a concrete advantage for customers.

6. Global brands must take into account the culture of each territory they address.

7. Concreteness and relevance matter more than rhetoric.

8. A friendly brand is always available and easily accessible.

9. An honest "no" is better than a flattering "yes."

10. For a brand, listening is as important as speaking.

Best Brands, at a glance

The Oscar of Brands, as Best Brands is known today, has become a reference point and a highly anticipated event for the communication industry in all the countries where it takes place. Born twenty years ago in Germany by the initiative of GfK and Serviceplan Group, it has gradually expanded to Belgium, France, Germany, and Poland.

In Italy, the first edition took place in 2015 and has since enjoyed the continuous support of the founding partners RAI Pubblicità, 24ORE System, IGP Decaux, ADC Group, and the patronage of UPA. The 2023 edition also benefited from the contribution of Teads, a global leader in the outstream video advertising market, which combines publishers' media expertise with AI-driven data and creativity "to deliver impactful results on advertisers' businesses."

The research this year also examined almost 300 brands according to Best Brands' exclusive methodology, which combines qualitative and quantitative elements thanks to an algorithm developed by GfK and Serviceplan Group.

The 2023 edition includes five rankings: the four historical rankings, Best Product Brand, Best Growth Brand, Best Sustainability Brand, and Best Phygital Brand, were joined by Best of the Best, an award resulting from an additional consumer survey that led to 6,000 interviews conducted by GfK; 1,000 more than the 2022 edition, dedicated to identifying among the top five in the four historical rankings, the brand that distinguished itself for its ability to excel in all the value areas covered by the four rankings.