• USA Today, Tuesday, January 3, 2006 12:07 PM

Who and what will emerge as the top brands of the new year? A survey says the big winners will be high-tech products and companies and people like Oprah Winfrey, who exude a feel-good image. The second-annual Newsmaker Brands survey asked 1,744 adult consumers to rank 61 of the biggest brand newsmakers of 2005--products and celebrities--on their performance last year and prospects in the year ahead. Technology reigned supreme, with Google, eBay, Amazon, Yahoo!, iPods and DVRs among the top 10 predicted winners in the new year. "It's a signal that the Internet and technology brands are becoming more interwoven into everyday life," says Allen Adamson, managing director at Landor Associates, one of the marketing firms behind the study. "It's moved from a specialty niche to the center of people's lives." The big losers? They included Britney Spears, Donald Trump, United Airlines, and SUVs.

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