M&S kicks Boots off top spot in poll of brands

MARKS & Spencer has knocked Boots off the top spot as Britain’s favourite family brand.

The high street stalwart rose five places in the 2011 FamilyBrands report.

Supermarket giant Tesco dropped out of the top 20 for the first time in the report’s three-year history, while drinks brand Innocent and department store John Lewis made the top ten for the first time.

British Airways, which has recently launched its biggest advertising campaign in 11 years, is one of the year’s biggest risers, moving up 23 places to 37th to become the UK’s top family airline.

Ryanair maintained its position as the worst family airline – for the third year in a row.

Fairy and the Co-op took the third and fourth place, while BBC1 and BBC2 also made the top ten list.

Steve Hastings, planning partner at advertising agency Isobel, which co-authored the report with YouGov, said: “Now three years in to our FamilyBrands survey we are seeing a clear pattern emerging with Britain’s favourite family brands being identified year after year.

“We believe in harder times people fall back on brands they trust, brands they are familiar with and brands they feel at home with.”