Business Journals, a media solutions platform for companies strategically targeting business decision makers, recently announced its 2011 annual American Brand Excellence Awards, which recognize brands that best meet the needs of small- to mid-sized businesses (SMB) in the United States.

Based on the responses of over 2000 SMB owners and managers about the brands which best support their businesses and help them succeed, over 250 brands were rated, of which the top 25 won the honors for being easy to do business with, industry leaders, forward thinking, for growing companies, ethical, growing in popularity and having a good price for what you get.

In addition to the overall 25, the survey also ranked the top five players in six categories - viz., Technology, Travel, Telecommunications, Retail, Financial & Insurance Services, and Business Services.

Perhaps not surprisingly, among the respective category winners, Apple emerged as the Grand Award winner in terms of brand excellence. As the leader of the tablet category with the iPad, Apple is redefining how we work, said Godfrey Phillips, VP of Research for The Business Journals. Our study found that nine per cent of business owners currently use an iPad for business.

Apple with its ground-breaking iPad hogs the show, but several other brands too have proved their mettle in terms of the value that they provide to the SMB sector. Run this slideshow to view the brands that bagged No.1 position in the six categories and also a round-up of the top 5 in each.

Apple iPad workers forced to sign not allowed to commit suicide pact
Apple iPad workers forced to sign ‘not allowed to commit suicide’ pact Reuters
2. Travel Southwest Airlines
Southwest says bookings outlook strong. Reuters
3. Telecommunications Verizon Wireless
Overall Rank: #23From the inception of the Internet to the present connected age of mobility and social media, telecommunications has perhaps had the single biggest transformative effect on business in general.Mobility and constant access to stakeholders is today a foremost business need; cellular service providers, though seldom considered blemish-free, have an ever increasing recall among owners and managers. Verizon Wireless is quoted by Business Journal as “the least-loathed” and earns top ranking because of its cell coverage, less dropped calls and a dedicated center for small businesses. Now, with plans for Apple’s iPhone and iPad in place, it has a special advantage.Other players among the ‘Top 5’ in the category are Verizon, Vonage, AT&T and US Cellular. Reuters
4. Retail Staples
Overall Rank: #7Customer service, multiplicity of locations, ease of use, and variety of products are the factors that determine the value that a retail outlet can offer to a business.Stationery chain Staples enjoys top of recall in this category, with one of the most important factors boosting the brand being its adoption by a growing number of entrepreneurs, who don’t have the corporate pool of stationery to draw from. Business Journals also makes a special mention of its “easy button” ad campaign that has wooed many business owners wary of complicated office transactions.The other four rounding up the top brands in the category are FedEx Office, the UPS Store, Best Buy and Office Depot. Reuters
5. Financial Services Insurance Visa
Overall Rank: #17 The sector which received the biggest dressing down during the recent recession is now in the process of re-inventing itself; for the SMB sector, its focus has been on helping owners get access to much-needed capital.Visa has been a great supporter of startup owners and entrepreneurs in this regard. Its advertising, too, has been subtly geared towards that. According to the creators of the award, however, Visa’s biggest image booster among the corporate fraternity has been its mammoth consumer base globally.Others comprising the ‘Top 5’ in this category are Visa Business Card, The Vanguard Group, MasterCard Business Card and Geico. Reuters
6. UPS
The package delivery company delivers more than 15 million packages a day to 6.1 million customers and is well known for its brown trucks. Reuters
Apple inc. Retail Apple inc. Ipad