YouGov’s Best Brand Rankings 2026 have revealed that Marks & Spencer is the strongest brand in the UK, topping the national rankings with an Index score of 52.7. The achievement is all the more impressive given that the retailer suffered a cyber-attack in 2025 which left shoppers unable to buy online from the company for months. The fact that the brand was able to withstand the damage from this attack shows just how strong its reputation is among UK consumers. After Marks & Spencer, IKEA, Samsung, John Lewis, and Netflix follow in the top five, with WhatsApp, Sony, Lindt, Boots, and Cadbury rounding out the top ten. The key to Marks & Spencer’s success is broad-based strength across multiple BrandIndex measures. It has achieved the highest score in the top ten for Impression, Quality, Reputation, Satisfaction, and Recommend. That strength in depth is a key indicator of long-term brand resilience. The rankings are derived from YouGov’s BrandIndex brand tracking tool, which delivers always-on tracking across key brand health metrics to give a complete and granular picture of brands’ public perception over time. YouGov’s global analysis looks at the brands with the highest Index score, which combines metrics for Impression, Quality, Value, Satisfaction, Recommend, and Reputation scores. The UK’s most improved brand is the Post Office, which recorded an 8.9 point year-on-year increase, driven by rising satisfaction and improved public perception as it recovers from the sub-postmaster scandal. Royal Mail and Fujitsu take the second and third most improved spots, showing that brands can recover from significant reputation hits. On the global stage, WhatsApp tops the global rankings with an average Index score of 41.5, driven by particularly strong performance in India and Indonesia. Samsung follows closely, helped by a high Quality score of 47.2. YouTube, Google, Adidas, Nike, Netflix, Dettol, Colgate, and Toyota complete the global top ten. The global trend shows that technology brands continue to command exceptional consumer trust and affinity, with WhatsApp, Samsung, YouTube, and Google securing four of the top five positions worldwide. As YouGov CEO Stephan Shakespeare noted, strong brands don’t just perform, they connect. The rankings highlight the companies that have enjoyed lasting consumer appeal over the past 12 months, based on over six million interviews conducted across 28 markets.
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