Luxury brands

GfK “best brands” survey of luxury watch and clothing brands Many companies in Germany achieved success in 2006 with visionary and innovative brand concepts. The “best brands” survey focuses on these brands and their producers. This distinction plays an important role as the first ranking for product and corporate brands whose laureates are determined on the basis of a market research study instead of being awarded by a jury. The rankings are determined by means of a representative survey of consumers conducted by GfK Marktforschung, which measures both the commercial success and the attractiveness of the brand. “best brands” was initiated in 2004 by GfK, WirtschaftsWoche magazine, Serviceplan, SevenOne Media, the Markenverband brand association and GWP media-marketing.

Since 2006, “best brands” has focused especially on top decision-makers. This year, this important target group for the German brand industry was surveyed on the strength of 22 luxury watch brands and 54 luxury clothing brands. A representative sample of 1,000 managers, including senior executives, professionals and self-employed individuals and with a net monthly household income of EUR 3,500 and over, responded to the survey online. The attractiveness of the brands was determined indirectly from their potential to meet the needs and desires of the target group. The characteristics measured extend beyond purely functional features and the perceived quality of the products. They also comprise the emotional characteristics that are important to luxury brands such as their potential to pamper or embody a certain status along with their exclusivity and the tradition they represent. The more the luxury brands surveyed were perceived by the target group as able to fulfill these criteria and other characteristics, the greater their appeal and probability of purchase.

Four watch brands and six clothing brands emerged as the winners in the GfK survey. Ranking in first place in the top 10 was Italian designer fashion label GUCCI. The German watch brand Glashütte Original and Swiss luxury watchmaker IWC came in at number 2 and 3 respectively. Also in the top ten is another brand based in Glashütte in Saxony, A. Lange & Söhne. For the fashion brands, however, only French and Italian labels are represented. They are Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Giorgio Armani and Versace.

The report just published summarizes the extensive information on the 76 luxury watch brands and clothing brands covered by the GfK survey. This includes an overview of the brands’ current ads. The report in the publication of around 100 pages gives a comprehensive diagnosis of the strengths and weaknesses of the competing luxury brands and identifies the reasons for their success.

Further information: Dr. Oliver Hupp, Division Manager Brand & Communication Research, Tel.: +49 911-395 2702,