Britain: brand nation

New survey shows the brands we love and the brands we hate, and the brands we love and hate, got it?

Like it or not, our lives are dominated by branding, advertising and the perception of what is good or bad and en vogue or behind the times, as decided by some faceless names behind closed doors.

But what about us, the Great British consumer? Which brands do we truly love and loathe? The latest issue of Marketing magazine has just conducted its fourth annual survey aimed at answering these exact questions, which is handy...

Most interesting about this survey is the standing of technology and online-orientated companies, with no less than six sitting in the top ten most popular.

Topping the popularity pops is Finnish mobile giant Nokia with a mammoth 39.6% of the overall vote, closely followed by iPod (notably not Apple) in third with 27.1%, O2 fourth with 25.9%, Facebook fifth with 24.9%, Virgin Media sixth with 24.3% and the good old Beeb seventh with 23.7%. significantly, every single one of these had improved its standing against last year's survey, showing the continuing upsurge in technology as a crucial factor of modern life.

On the flip side of the coin, only three tech-focused brands sat in the top ten most hated, with AOL taking second spot overall (behind McDonald's) with 25.5% of the vote, followed by N-Gage (again, notably not Nokia) in fourth with 19.7% and mobile operator 3 placing tenth with 15%.

Also interesting is the crossover area, where certain products and companies seem to elicit particularly strong reactions either positive or negative and so sit highly in both the love and hate stakes. Take handheld gadgets for example. Top five in order of most loved are: iPod, Nintendo DS, Sony Walkman, Sony PSP and N-Gage; whereas the most hated are, in order: N-Gage, Sony Walkman, Sony PSP, iPod and Nintendo DS.

What this proves is that a brand's perception in terms of popularity is not a deciding factor in its success - just ask Nokia and its N-Gage division.