Netflix knocks Aldi off its perch in latest YouGov Buzz rankings

In third place Aldi’s rival Lidl sits with a Buzz score of 15.1 after increasing its favourability score by 1.3, placing it fractionally ahead of Moneysavingexpert.com on 14.9. Greggs meanwhile came from nowhere to claim seventh spot on the back of its vegan sausage roll which gave them a rating of 11.

At the other end of the scale, BBC iPlayer continues to flag, dropping further to ninth spot in the current list having ranked sixth last year.

In tandem with the top brand overall, YouGov took the time to compile 2019’s most improved brands, this time headed by Northern Rail which shrugged off a barrage of grim headlines to register an eight-point increase in sentiment, although it remains in negative territory overall with a rating of -5.5.

Amelia Brophy, head of UK data products, for YouGov said: “For the first time since 2014, Aldi does not place top in YouGov’s annual Buzz rankings, being pipped to the gold medal by Netflix. Netflix only entered into the rankings in 2016 and has done well to be highly perceived by the public in such a short amount of time. 2019 saw Netflix focus on developing and launching original content that caters for multiple markets and demographic groups, which appears to have been successful rewarding them with multiple award nominations, including the Oscars, and ensuring that the brand was talked about positively more than ever before.”

The top table is populated by quizzing the public on whether they’ve heard anything, positive or negative, about a brand in the past fortnight with the average of these scores from throughout the year used to inform the final list.

Netflix's British rise was presaged by an equivalent US ranking after it secured first place last year.