Europe's largest independent ad agency, Serviceplan, announced the winners of its Best Brands awards for China for the third year in a row early this month in Shanghai.

Airbnb, BMW, WeChat and Huawei were crowned as "the Best Brands of 2016 China" for four different categories, namely best disruptive brand, best emotionally bonding brand, best digital economy brand and best consumer electronics brand.

"The most important thing is not for the brand itself, but for everyone to learn why these brands become the best brands. They provide us a benchmark," said Vera Yu, head of strategy of Serviceplan China.

Jan-Philipp, general manager of Serviceplan China, added that his company is the first foreign company with high values recognizing the influence of brands in China, especially in a digital age.

"Developed from a copy economy, China has become a powerhouse in technology and consumer electronics. The most interesting thing is that the close ecosystem has connected all age groups and consumer segments. Even the elderly on the street can use the WeChat digital payment system. But in Europe, only the young group will use this," he says.

The organizers noted that while the criteria on evaluating brands in China and Germany are the same in general practice, the design of award is based on China's situation.

A total of 2,400 consumers were selected to help decide the final winners' list, through the independent judging process of GFK, the fourth-largest market research organization in the world, headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany.