While Vicks has dropped to eighth position from its last year's top position, the worst ever for any brand, Iodex is the second most popular brand in the country, the survey published in A&M's latest issue, said.

Colgate's nearest rival brand Close-Up of Hindustan Lever has dropped by 22 places to stand at 27th position from last year's place at fifth while Doordarshan retains the position it held last year at ninth. Thanks to consumer goodwill from the past, Colgate, with a total score of 48.23, has topped in 11 of the 14 segments in which the brands were surveyed.

The survey was covered in all the four geographical zones and the sample size of the survey was 2,620 people. Equal weightage was given to bothrural and urban areas. The survey reveals that the power scores of several long-entrenched brands are declining from year to year due to increased level of competition that the brands have to face now.

Iodex has notched up its highest rank ever at second spot with a score of 38.35, up from its previous best of number eight in 1997.

Another Lever brand- Pond's, at third position, is up three places since last year with a score of 38.29 points and regains the position it held in 1996, it said.

Interestingly, despite heavy advertising budget, while Coca Cola at 44 barely manages to retain its 1997 rank, Pepsi has slid to 54 in the rankingsAccording to the survey, Britannia ranked fourth on the top brand list, has scorched its way up the charts, from last year's rank of 13, while Bata -- which is currently on a turnaround mode -- has gained two ranks and is at fifth position.

Dettol, after a high of third position last year, has dropped to a comparatively dismal tenth while HLL's Lifebuoy, the oldestexisting branded soap in the country launched in 1894, is a big gainer and perches itself at sixth position from its lowest rank of 15 last year.

Besides Doordarshan, another public sector brand among the top 10 list is HMT, ranked seventh with score of 36.77 from the last year rank of 22. The survey reveals that there are many instances this year of brands bouncing up and down the charts. "Overall the power scores of several long-entrenched brands are declining from year to year, seemingly as a result of the increased level of competition that the brands have to face," it said.