With a nod to changing cinsumer habits and the prevalence of different products on the shelves, this year's contest added deodorant, computer printers and microwaves to the list. Rexona took top place for deodorants, Hewlett-packard for printers and Samsung for microwaves . Some 35,700 people voted for their favorite brand through the Internet and two national newspapers. The contest is backed by the Chamber of Industry and Trade and the Anti-Monopoly Ministry. The categories alternate every other year and last year people voted for their favorite motorcycle, bullion cubes and pantyhose.
People know that there are certain.
The closest vote was for televisions, with Samsung edging out Sony by 1 percent with 2.5 percent of the vote. Both juices are produced by the same Russian company. Organizers stressed that there was no direct link between winning and the amount a company spends on advertising, saying that prices and quality matter more. Bringing that point home, Khokhlova showed a list of advertising budgets showing that commercials and billboards were not necessarily the driving factor behind consumers' predilections. Anatoly Daursky, president of Krasny Ostyabr, agreed that brand awareness doesn't always depend on millions of dollars being spent on ads.