Sixty nine brands from 25 countries were honoured at the World Branding Awards in a glittering ceremony at the prestigious One Whitehall Place in London over the weekend.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141028/713398 )

Global winners include Apple, Coca-Cola, Del Monte, Guinness, Heinz, HSBC, Louis Vuitton, McDonald's, Mercedes-Benz, Samsung, Sony PlayStation and VISA. National tier winners from Britain include Barclays, the BBC, British Airways, Silentnight, Thomas Cook, the University of Oxford and WHSmith. Each brand was named "Brand of the Year" in their respective categories.

The awards were organised by the World Branding Forum, a global non-profit organisation which produces, manages and supports a wide range of programmes covering research, development, education, recognition, networking and outreach. It is also involved with research and development, the implementation of standards, best practice guidelines and tools, as well as other branding initiatives.

Richard Rowles, chairman of the World Branding Forum said, "It takes years to build a strong brand, and brands that make the list at these awards deserve recognition. Their work inspires those in the branding industry. These are brands that have a strong relationship with consumers. In addition to a brand valuation, voting by consumers shows that connection that winning brands have with the general public."

The awards recognised some of the best global and national brands for their work and achievements. Uniquely, winners were judged through four streams: brand valuation, consumer market research, public online voting, as well as voting by the World Branding Forum Advisory Council, which is made up of luminaries from the world of branding.

The awards gave special recognition to Tony Fernandes, founder of AirAsia, naming him "Brand Builder of the Year", for his work in building the budget airline brand. The airline was also the only regional winner, having scored the highest for a budget airline in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

Other national tier winners include Telstra from Australia, Baidu from China, Lego from Denmark, McDowell's No. 1 from India, Garuda Indonesia, Colgate from Hong Kong, Ferrari from Italy, Shell from the Netherlands, Maybank from Malaysia, Raoul from Singapore, Nescafé from Switzerland and Chatime from Taiwan.

The event was hosted by David Croft from Sky Sports. For more information and the full list of winners, visit http://www.awards.brandingforum.org .

About the World Branding Forum 

The World Branding Forum (WBF) is a registered global non-profit organisation. Its aims and activities are to provide benefit to all those involved in the branding community, including those who work in the branding, design, marketing, advertising, public relations and communications disciplines worldwide. In particular, the organisation's objectives are to advance the standards, skills and education of all those involved in the branding and related industries. The WBF produces, manages and supports a wide range of programmes covering research, development, education, recognition, networking and outreach. For more information, visit http://www.brandingforum.org.

About the World Branding Awards 

The World Branding Awards is the premier awards of the World Branding Forum, a registered non-profit organisation. The awards recognise the achievements of some of the world's best brands. There are two major tiers of awards - the Global Awards are awarded to international brands, while the National Awards are awarded to brands that are household names in their country of origin. For more information, visit http://www.awards.brandingforum.org.

SOURCE The World Branding Forum