Doordarshan retains the position it held last year at ninth position. According to the survey, the perennial topper, Colgate has regained its position, after being dislodged by Vicks last year.

Vicks has dropped to eighth position from its last year's top position, the worst ever for the brand. Colgate, with a total score of 48.23 has also topped in 11 of the 14 segments in which the brands were surveyed, the study published in A&M's latest issue said.

Iodex has notched up its highest rank ever at second spot with a score of 38.35, up from its previous best of number 8th in 1997.

Pond's, at third position, is up three places sincelast year with a score of 38.29 and regains the position it held in 1996, it said.

According to the A&M 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 has gained two spots and is at fifth position.

Dettol, after a high of third position last year, has dropped to a comparatively dismal tenth while Lifebuoy, the oldest existing 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.

The only public sector brands 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.

The survey was covered in all the fourgeographical zones and the sample size of the survey was 2,620 and equal weightage was given to both rural and urban areas.