• by Aaron Baar , October 13, 2010

Technology has become such an important part of our lives that technology and consumer electronics brands dominate the list of Landor Associates top 10 list of Breakaway Brands for 2010. "I'm fascinated that electronics brands did as well as they did" particularly considering the recession, Hayes Roth, chief marketing officer at Landor, tells Marketing Daily. "But it only shows how important connectivity is and it's only going to get more important."

Brands such as Facebook, BlackBerry, LG, Nintendo, Google and Apple (and iPod, which was recorded as a separate brand) were among the top 10 in the study, which examines data from Young & Rubicam Brands' Brand Asset Valuator. In partnership with Wake Forest University's Graduate School of Business, Landor study the top brands' business strategy, marketing initiatives and category dynamics to determine the leadership brands that capitalized on consumer trends and innovative thinking while remaining true to their core image strengths.

"It's about sustained growth and brand value. We look at it as 'Who has increased their brand strength based on that equation,'" Roth says. "It's not about them being big, it's about them improving their relevance to consumer in comparison to their competitors."

In addition to the six brands above, Clif Bar, Kraft Foods and Disney rounded out the list of the top 10 Breakaway Brands. Despite the preponderance of consumer electronics and technology brands on the list, all of the top 10 brands share some commonalities, Roth says. "Virtually all of them figured out a way to make themselves useful and easy to buy," he says.

They also found ways to stretch their messages -- and broaden their target audiences -- by building on their core brand strengths to build a sustained business-building idea. Some companies, like Facebook and BlackBerry, did it by connecting across physical boundaries, while others, like Nintendo and Disney, entertained broad age groups.

Others, like Kraft and LG, did it by bringing people together, Roth says. "All of them have figured out ways to make connections with consumers in tough times," he says.