Brand Finance Canada Inc., a Toronto-based marketing analysis firm, brought in the clowns of Cirque du Soleil to fill the number one spot on its list of iconic Canadian brands.

10 iconic brands:
Cirque du Soleil
Ski-Doo
CBC
Roots
Toronto Maple Leafs
Montreal Canadiens
Calgary Stampede
IMAX
CN Tower
Terry Fox
(Source: Brand Finance Canada)

The top 10 list of iconic brands, released several days ago in a report, is intended to demonstrate "brands that are part of the history, heritage and culture of Canada: Brands that have shaped Canada's current landscape."

The report sees brands as another Canadian symbol.

"Brands are all-pervasive and can act as tags or identifiers for things we view as important," the report says. "Beyond corporate brand rankings, our world is filled with day-to-day brands of all stripes that in many ways chronicle the evolution of our society."

The top 10 were "not necessarily the most valuable iconic brands, but were the special favourites of our panel," the report says.

This panel included representatives from Level5, a brand management company, Socratic Technologies Inc., a San Francisco-based research method firm, Philippe Meyersohn, general manager of brands at Mabe Canada, and two marketing professors: Dr. Ken Wong of Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., and Dr. Tim Silk, of the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver.

The panel's choices ranged from products such as Ski-Doo and Roots to the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team and the Terry Fox charity.

David Kincaid, the chief executive officer of Level5, said the iconic brands all contribute something special to their consumers.

"Those are organizations that are touching consumers in a whole range of different ways and I would encourage them to truly look at the role that their brand plays. What this report is showing is that they are valuable in consumers' lives and therefore the brand should be managed accordingly," he said.