Lego Builds a Winning Night at Germany's Best Brands Gala

Last week in Munich, Germany’s Best Brands Awards feted Lego as the best overall brand at the competition. Dm-drogerie markt was honored as the best corporate sustainability brand, while Lego, Nivea and Bosch received “best of the best” accolades.

The BBAs are led by GfK, Seven, One Entertainment, Markenverband, WirtschaftsWoche, DIE ZEIT, RMS Radio, Media Impact and Serviceplan. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the show measures brand strength based on “share of market” and “share of soul” (attractiveness as perceived by customers).

On one end of the highlight spectrum, an actor dressed as a giant Lego accepted the top brand prize. On the other, Christoph Amend, editorial director at ZEITmagazin, interviewed Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. The latter founded Instituto Terra and has spent years reforesting his homeland. Thousands of hectares of rainforest have been restored through his efforts. And as a result, he’s helped brands such as publisher Taschen achieve carbon neutrality.

“Water, carbon and biodiversity should be taken into account with profit variables,” Salgado said. “There is no profit without taking these three details into account. To fight oil companies, we must abandon our cars. We must abandon the consumption of gas. It is a choice of society. We must do it together. If we don’t do it together, we cannot be activists … This society we have, we choose all together.”

This year marks the first time the BBAs recognized sustainability concerns. According to CEO Florian Haller of Serviceplan, “We initiated Best Brands 20 years ago—after the New Economy crisis of the early 2000s—so that companies could learn from the best. From brands that take risks, learn from experiences, stay agile and thus manage to remain successful in the long term.”

He added: “Given the current geopolitical situation, I believe that many uncertainties will continue to accompany us for quite some time. In times like these it is vital for brands to invest in an excellent customer experience and to drive digital transformation. But it is just as important for brands to consider the human factor, to discover what really moves customers and to find their way into people’s hearts via good, emotional storytelling. Strong brands succeed in finding the balance between tradition and innovation, between technological strength and empathy. They convey clear brand values, create trust and thus become personal companions for people over a long period of time. This is what distinguishes our winning brands this year.”