For the third year running, Aston Martin has been taken the honour of coming top in CoolBrand’s annual list of the coolest brands in the UK, published today. And while you could predict the inclusion of luxury companies and products such as Bang & Olufsen, Ferrari and Dom Perignon, social media giants Facebook, YouTube and the ubiquitious Google have also made the top 20 this year.

There’s no doubting these brands continue to be successful in their own right. But replacing the likes of Prada and Green & Black’s shows that while the expert panel (which includes designer Ben de Lisi as well as Future Laboratory partner Tom Savigar) continues to see the aspriation in “cool”, innovation and changing the way we communicate are making an impact on what brands need to be to gain that kind of mindshare.

As CoolBrands council chairman Stephen Cheliotis points out: “There is one unifying key to all of the brands – they’re all brands that have consistently innovated, refused to stand still and are at the top of their game.”

- First published at Shiny Red