• The [London] Times, Friday, February 20, 2009 11:15 AM

"The power of the brand remains persuasive," writes Carol Lewis. "Coca-Cola, Lego, Hoover, Oxo and Google have all seeped into everyday vocabulary."

Oxo? Well, if you lived in Great Britain, you'd get the reference. The Marketing Society there has named it the top brand of 1983, when the Oxo family -- which was to become one of Britain's most popular "soap operas" in a series of 42 ads over 16 years -- was introduced. Now the Marketing Society is asking its members and readers of The Times to vote on their "most loved brand" from the ones it has chosen for each of the past 50 years. (It has also asked accountants to calculate the most valuable brand "in pounds and pence.")

Other questions for Times readers (which apparently means you, if you'd like) include "the brand I would most like to manage" and "the most successful brand in the next 50 years." The winners will be announced at the Marketing Society's annual conference on Nov. 16. Nice package.

Read the whole story at The [London] Times »