Aston Martin was today named the coolest brand in the UK - thanks to the James Bond effect.

New 007 Daniel Craig drove an Aston Martin sports car in the highly-successful Bond movie Casino Royale.

This helped the car, produced at Gaydon in Warwickshire, take pole position in a list compiled from votes of 2,246 consumers and from the Superbrands organisation.

Superbrands’ CoolBrands Council said: "The success of Casino Royale - and the rekindled love affair between the British public and Bond as a result - shows there is a deeply ingrained association with the man and the car in the minds of Britons."

Second in the table was iPod, with YouTube third, Bang and Olufsen fourth, Google fifth and Playstation sixth.

Sir Richard Branson’s airline Virgin Atlantic was 10th, with two high-performance car companies - Ferrari (11th) and Lamborghini (17th) - also making it into the top 20.

At a time when dark chocolate is seen, in small helpings, as a health benefit, the Green & Black’s brand also did well -finishing in 18th place.

"The top 20 is a reflection of our changing needs, wants and interests," said Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the CoolBrands Council.  "You could argue that it’s split into two pretty clearly defined categories - on the one hand, things can become cool by virtue of their necessity or prevalence in your life, like Google, or Amazon.

"On the other, the things you really want, but may know you’ll never get - like a Rolex; or a Ferrari - are considered just as cool. There seems to be a real divergence between aspiration and practicality but both are deemed cool - which goes to show how the needs and desires of consumers are developing."

The top 20 was:
1. Aston Martin
2. iPod
3. YouTube
4. Bang and Olufsen
5. Google
6. Playstation
7. Apple
8. Agent Provocateur
9. Nintendo
10. Virgin Atlantic
11. Ferrari
12. Ducati
13. eBay
14. Rolex
15. Tate Modern
16. Prada
17. Lamborghini
18. Green & Black’s
19. iTunes
20. Amazon