Vodacom, Coca-Cola and KFC were the big winners at the 19th annual Sunday Times Top Brands Awards held on Wednesday evening at Johannesburg. The awards celebrate brands that have stood out from the crowd, providing a representative snapshot of how they have performed.

The first to be awarded was the business section.

Domestic airlines were represented by British Airways, which came in first, followed by Kulula in second place and Mango in third. Avis led the way in the rental car category, with Europcar in second place and Budget coming in third. In the car sector, Mercedes Benz dropped to second place, replaced by Toyota as the leading car brand. BMW took third place.

In the long-term insurance category, Old Mutual dropped dramatically from first to sixth place. Discovery Life took first place, followed by Momentum Life, with Liberty coming third.  The short-term insurance category yielded no surprises, with Santam in first place, Outsurance in second and Old Mutual Insure third. FNB took first place in the corporate banking category for the fifth year running, with Investec coming in second and FNB third.

iPhone maintained the lead in the cellphone category, followed by Samsung and then Huawei. When it came to telecommunications providers, Telkom landlines/fixed lines came in first, followed by MTN in second place and Vodacom in third.

The big take-out: Vodacom, Coca-Cola and KFC were the big winners at this year’s Sunday Times Top Brands Awards. Look out for a special Sunday Times Top Brands supplement in the Sunday Times on October 1.

Allan Grey took top place in the investment company space, for the fifth consecutive year; while Investec held strong in second place and Coronation came in third.

Unsurprisingly, Discovery Health Medical Scheme remained top in the medical aid category, followed by Momentum Health in second place and Fedhealth in third.

Vodacom won all three of the Grand Prix awards in the business sector, coming in first place as SA’s favourite brand as well as winning the Green award for the brand perceived to be the most ecologically friendly and the Community Upliftment award.

The second section covered the consumer awards.

BonAqua, aQuellé and Valpre respectively came first, second and third for water. Energy drinks was a new category this year, won by Red Bull, followed by Powerade and PowerPlay. In the beer category AB InBev held the top 10, with Heineken in first place, Castle Lite second and Carling Black Label third. Johnnie Walker won the top spot in the spirits category, followed by Jameson and Amarula.

Dominating in cereal was Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. Weet-Bix came in second, with Jungle Oats a close third. Processed meats featured the usual players: Enterprise, Rainbow Simply Chicken and Eskort respectively. Essential foods was won by Tastic, followed by Albany in second place and White Star in third. Tinned foods remained stable, with Koo leading, followed by Lucky Star and All Gold. Milk was won by Clover, with Parmalat and Ultra Mel coming in second and third. Rainbow remains the top frozen chicken brand, followed by Goldi and I&J.

Shoprite is the leading grocery store for the fourth consecutive year, with Pick n Pay in second place and Spar in third.

KFC is the country’s favourite fast food restaurant, with Nando’s second and Debonairs Pizza third. Spur is the favourite sit-down restaurant, followed by McDonald’s in second place and Wimpy in third.

Nivea is the top beauty and cosmetic brand, second is Pond’s and third Dawn.

Electronic goods were dominated by Samsung, LG and Sony respectively, while Defy won in the kitchen appliances category, followed by Samsung and LG. Consumers voted Mercedes-Benz as the top car category, while BMW came in second and Volkswagen third. When it comes to filling up with fuel, Shell is the top brand, followed by BP and then Engen. SAA holds onto first place for domestic airlines, second place went to British Airways and third place to Kulula.

Retail banking was won by Capitec, FNB and Standard Bank, in that order. Outsurance was the top short-term insurance brand, followed by Hollard and First for Women. Long-term insurance was taken by Old Mutual, second place went to Alexander Forbes and third to  Avbob.

Samsung is the favourite cellphone for consumers, with Nokia in second place and the Apple iPhone in third. Vodacom is the leading service provider, followed by MTN and Telkom Mobile/8ta. Television service providers winners were SABC1, DStv Compact and e.tv.

Top loyalty programme went to the Pick n Pay Smart Shopper, with the Clicks Club Card second and Edcon’s Thank U card third.

The Grand Prix Green award in the consumer category went to Coca-Cola, as did the community upliftment award. SA consumers voted their favourite brand as KFC – up from third place last year.

Finally, the Robyn Putter Brand Agency of 2017 award went to Ogilvy & Mather, with FCB in second place and TBWA in third.