"It's unusual for any brand to get [the award] three years in a row," said Stephen Cheliotis.

Tiger's marketing tack is different.

"Their advertising, packaging and marketing go without referencing or mimicking other players. It makes Tiger a bit cleverer, more sophisticated, while they can communicate about their brand."

Initiated in 2002 by the Superbrands organisation in the UK, CoolBrands recognises the most interesting brands in the UK market that have character and a distinctive marketing strategy.

"Sometimes we miss smaller brands that have an interesting marketing strategy, and that is why we created CoolBrands," said Cheliotis.

Every year, CoolBrands picks thousands of brands in the UK market before the council members - volunteer experts in trends, including fashion designers, magazine editors, photographers and public-relations professionals - narrow the choices down until the final status is announced. Bennett GS Neo, who oversees Tiger Beer in the UK market, says the status does help put the Asian lager into the limelight, but it is not a focus of marketing strategy.

"The good impact is people want to follow when we are CoolBrands, but I don't try to say I'm cool, because if you say that, you're not cool any more. So you have to handle CoolBrands status carefully."

Parinyaporn Pajee

The Nation