World's Coolest Brands

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It comes and goes, but what gives 'cool' its cachet, asks Daniel Rogers

Cool credentials are critical to many brands, but only some achieve them. Even fewer maintain them.

This is the second year that The Brand Council has produced a report on what it judges to be Cool BrandLeaders and has, this time, surveyed British consumers to find out more about what makes brands cool and which pitfalls to avoid. Marketing has exclusive access to the findings.

'Cool BrandLeaders are brands that have become extremely desirable among many style leaders. They have a magic about them, signifying that users have an exceptional sense of taste and style,' explains Marcel Knobil, chair of the Cool BrandLeaders judging panel.

The Brand Council has published a book of all those brands awarded such status. Marketing presents four of them as case studies in 'cool'.

Puma

Sports brand Puma, destined for obscurity during the 80s, cleverly reinvented itself as a lifestyle brand during the 90s and now positions itself at the cutting edge of casual wear.

Founded in 1948 in Herzogenaurach, Germany, the brand initially concentrated on performance sportswear. Its running shoes and football boots - worn by Olympic champion Tommy Smith and the great footballer Pele - gradually established the 'form stripe' design as a global classic.

During the 70s, Puma's 'leaping cat' logo on basketball and tennis ranges became synonymous with urban cool. However, as the international sportswear mass market began to accelerate and global sports logos became the norm, the relatively small Puma suffered.

Puma realised it was far from a traditional sportswear company and after years of striving for a more unique identify it came up with a successful formula for 'mixing up' sports and fashion.

Partnerships with musicians and artists began to pay off with the return of heritage shoe styles and Puma's ground-breaking development of sport-fashion collections.

During the late 90s, Puma grew market share and the logo was adopted as an underground alternative to an overheated sportswear market.

New advertising, retail formats in key cities and web …