Winners Announced at 20th Anniversary of the Best Brands Awards

Mar. 01, 2023

The winners have been revealed: During a ceremony marking the 20^th anniversary of the Best Brands Awards, Germany’s only study-based brand award, the strongest brands of the year were honored. In addition to LEGO winning “Best Brand Overall,” dm-drogerie markt received the award for “Best Corporate Sustainability Brand.” The most successful brands of recent years were honored in the “Best of the Best Brands” category. The winners are LEGO, Nivea, and Bosch.

Around 550 guests from business, retail and media, as well as numerous celebrity guests, attended the Best Brands Awards Gala at the Bayerischer Hof in Munich. The evening was hosted by TV presenter Linda Zervakis.

After a welcome by Florian Haller, CEO of Serviceplan Group, the night opened with a keynote speech by big wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner, who inspired the guests with his fascinating success story. He spoke about courage, challenges, team spirit, and self-belief. To realize his childhood dream, the Nuremberg native moved to Hawaii despite all odds against him. Today, he holds the world record by surfing a wave of over 26 meters.

Another highlight was the live interview by Christoph Amend, Editorial Director ZEITmagazin and publisher “Welkunst”, DIE ZEIT, with Brazilian photographer and environmental activist Sebastião Salgado. As founder of the organization Instituto Terra, Salgado fights against environmental destruction. For years, he has placed himself at the service of replanting and revitalizing his Brazilian homeland. His efforts have met with success, and rainforest areas have been restored to thousands of hectares.

JAN DELAY & DELAYDIES feat. DJ MAD got the crowd going at the end of the evening with a musical performance. 

The evening gala was preceded by the Best Brands College during the day, with the theme of “Best Brands never stop moving: Successful brand management in times of change.” The daytime event, with lectures by top-class speakers, took place live again this year in the House of Communication of the Serviceplan Group. Among the speakers were author and visionary Christoph Keese, and the management team Nadine Bartenschlager and Catherine Niebuhr, who share the position of Marketing Director of NIVEA Germany/Switzerland. Daniel Boschmann presented the college for the third time.

The “Best Brands Awards” are organized jointly as a partner event by; GfK, Seven. One Entertainment Group, Markenverband, WirtschaftsWoche, DIE ZEIT, RMS Radio Marketing Service, Media Impact and the Serviceplan Group.

Florian Haller, CEO Serviceplan Group, commented:

"Courage and the willingness to learn from challenging times and embrace change is what makes brands successful in the long term. It is the factor that unites all our winning brands, including their ability to strike a balance between tradition and innovation, between technological strength and empathy. They communicate clear brand values, create trust, and thus become personal companions for people over a long time period."