Best Brands was set up in 2004 by the Serviceplan Group, NIQ/GfK, Seven.One Entertainment Group, WirtschaftsWoche and the The German Brands Association (Markenverband). Since 2016 the weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT is also a partner of Best Brands, since 2017 RMS Radio Marketing Service and since 2020 Media Impact has joined as well. WallDecaux will also be a partner of Best Brands from 2025.
Serviceplan – as the originator of the Best Brands format – holds everything together, coordinates the partners and in tandem with Seven.One Entertainment Group delivers the creative output for the events. Seven.One Entertainment Group is also responsible for staging a show worthy of Hollywood, GfK, as midwife for the Best Brands idea, developed the study design and also conducts the annual research on which the ranking is based, WirtschaftsWoche produces the special issue for the awards show and the German Brands Association represents the interests of the brands.
The Serviceplan Group is the largest independent, partner-managed and most broadly positioned agency group in Europe.
Founded in 1970 as a classic advertising agency, the Serviceplan Group has been bringing together all communication disciplines under one roof ever since:
from brand strategists, creatives, experience designers, marketing technology experts, CRM experts, data scientists, market researchers and PR consultants to sales specialists, everyone at the Serviceplan Group works together at the House of Communication – the only completely integrated agency model in Germany. The precisely coordinated interaction of a number of specialised agencies focused on Strategy & Consulting, Creative & Content, Platform & Technology and Media & Data makes the Serviceplan Group the leading agency group for innovative communication.
What connects us all is our passion for building and coaching fascinating brands. Brands that are economically successful and trigger emotions in the hearts and minds of the consumers — or in other words, BEST BRANDS. And this is achieved through innovative communication, which means finding new ways into consumers’ hearts with creativity, media and technology.
This vision of turning brands into BEST BRANDS is something we live and breathe here at the House of Communication on a daily basis.
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NielsenIQ (NIQ) is the world’s leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behaviour and revealing new pathways to growth. In 2023, NIQ joined forces with GfK, bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insights – delivered with advanced analytics through state-of-the-art platforms – NIQ delivers the Full ViewTM of consumer behaviour around the globe.
NIQ is an Advent International portfolio company that operates in more than 100 markets and covers more than 90% of the world’s population. For further information, visit NIQ.com.
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Seven.One Entertainment Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE. As one of Germany's leading, platform-independent entertainment providers, the company, headquartered in Munich-Unterföhring, has combined all of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group's station brands as well as its content, digital, distribution and marketing business under one roof since 2020. As an agile media company, the Group always concentrates on the needs of its viewers, users and customers and keeps on developing. The focus on local, relevant and live content, and the expansion of the Group's own production business, ensure that the Seven.One Entertainment Group has distinctive content for the German-speaking world. The Group's own station brands offer high-reach content brands that the whole of Germany talks about. The in-house Seven.One Media is one of the leading media marketers in German-speaking countries and is considered an innovation driver in the ad tech sector. In addition, the Seven.One Entertainment Group bundles all business areas beyond the core business of TV and streaming in the Business and Innovation unit – from the booming audio market to high-quality live events to digital entertainment and influencer business for young target groups.
In Germany, the brand industry generates a total brand revenue of just under 1.1 trillion euros and approximately 5.2 million jobs. Established in 1903 in Berlin, the Markenverband (German Brands Association) represents the interests of brand-oriented businesses in Germany as the umbrella organisation of the German brand economy. With around 300 members, it is the largest association of its kind in Europe.
Its members range from SMEs to large, globally operating corporations and come from a variety of sectors – from food, alcohol and tobacco to electronics, pharmaceuticals, fashion, consumer goods, telecommunications and cosmetics. The list includes leading brands like Abus, Beiersdorf, Hugo Boss, Coca-Cola, Gardena, Haribo, Henkel, Kärcher, Merz Consumer Care, Miele, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Ritter Sport, Rotkäppchen-Mumm, Unilever, Vileda and many other renowned companies.
As Germany’s leading business magazine, we stand for informative value, well-founded economic analyses and a clear economic and political compass. Think ahead. Get ahead – Our slogan applies to personal finances, asset accumulation, buying a property, career advancement, managing employees or making decisions for your own company.
The WirtschaftsWoche group of brands offers you the unique opportunity to address decision-maker target groups in a variety of ways: as well as the magazine, the website and the app, the media brand also offers a wide portfolio of special publications, newsletters, podcasts and events.
WirtschaftsWoche’s tight-knit network of media channels provides insights into the information and user behaviour of the business elite. This makes it an essential component of your communications strategy.
WirtschaftsWoche’s readers belong to Germany’s business elite. They are decision-makers in SMEs, primarily male, 30-59 years old, have an above-average disposable income and mainly work in executive roles. Not only do they make investment decisions at work, but also in their capacity as private consumers. Their role as opinion leaders and multipliers – both professionally and privately – make them an indispensable premium target group.
DIE ZEIT features a broad range of topics and themes: politics and business are central elements in the editorial concept, but there is also ample space for all the other issues that play an important role in modern society – from culture and science, technology, medicine, society, sustainability and education to travel, lifestyle and sport. The high benchmark it sets for journalism and reporting, the paper’s high credibility and an award-winning layout are what make DIE ZEIT such a highly valued source of information.
Since the first issue, published on February 21, 1946 in Hamburg, DIE ZEIT has grown into Germany’s most-read quality newspaper. Today, the total number of copies sold tops 600,000 and each issue reaches around two million readers.
The future sounds good for us - audio is by far the fastest-growing mass medium. An exciting, dynamic and innovative market that we are passionately helping to shape. With enthusiasm and curiosity for the possibilities of new technologies and formats.
RMS makes brands audible – everywhere. As an audio marketer with the strongest cross-auditive portfolio of radio, digital audio streams and podcasts, as well as smart speakers, voice, in-game and Web 3.0, RMS provides advertising customers with the best access to the high impact potential of audio advertising. This includes reach, quality, technology and impact evidence. With smart solutions, sound advice and comprehensive service, we inspire our clients to use the full diversity of the audiosphere in creative, innovative and successful ways. The future of successful brand communication lies in holistic concepts for auditive brand staging.
Management: Stefan Mölling (CEO), Sven Thölen (CEO).
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Germany's most effective marketer
At Media Impact, we are Germany's fastest and most creative customer advocates. Together with our co-operation partner Ad Alliance, we reach up to 90% of people living in Germany in print and digital.
As a marketer for Axel Springer and selected clients, we work passionately every day to offer our customers the best possible stage for their advertising message. To do this, we utilise the cross-media power of Axel Springer brands such as BILD, WELT and Business Insider. We combine this quality reach with intelligent technology and creative solutions to maximise our customers' advertising impact. Innovative event formats enhance our 360-degree marketing.
We see ourselves as a source of inspiration and staging experts, because we not only think cross-media and target group-specific, but also move people through emotional storytelling. Regional locations with close proximity to our customers, agile working methods and cross-functional team structures help us to be a speedboat rather than a tanker.
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As a premium out-of-home advertiser, WallDecaux offers analogue and digital advertising space in the urban centres of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Düsseldorf and Cologne as well as 17 other cities in Germany. With its expertise in programmatic digital out-of-home, WallDecaux combines targeted targeting with strong reach and continues to drive these innovations forward. This gives advertisers, agencies and brands the opportunity to efficiently integrate out-of-home advertising into their marketing mix and make its success measurable. With the Power of Premium Out of Home, WallDecaux creates brand experiences that stay in people's minds.
WallDecaux is the sales brand of Wall GmbH and part of the JCDecaux Group, the global market leader for outdoor advertising with over 1,000,000 advertising spaces in more than 80 countries and around 11,650 employees.
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