Marketing, 23 Feb 2010.

For the second year in succession, The Times has emerged as the newspaper of choice for senior members of the marketing community.

And in a coup for publisher News International, The Sunday Times takes equal second place in our list of marketers favourite newspapers, demonstrating the popularity of the Times brand among those with power and influence.

The Sunday Times - a paper that has become as synonymous with lazy Sundays as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding - shares second place with The Guardian, a paper renowned for its coverage of media and popular culture - a particularly useful combination for those working in marketing communications.

The rest of the top 5 is accounted for by broadsheet stalwarts known for their business focus, The Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times. Tabloid titles are conspicuous by their absence, despite a handful of marketers nominating The Sun or mid-market Daily Mail as their favourite paper. Given their impressive circulation and influence, marketers cannot afford to ignore such publications, either as an advertising vehicle or a barometer of society.

Kevin Peake of Npower is one of those who needs a dose of The Sun. "It's just so positive" he says. The Daily Mail vies with low cost rival Ryanair for the most unwanted title of 'most hated brand' amongst our respondents.

Other titles to get a positive mention include such diverse titles such as The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald, The Sydney Morning Herald and Arsenal FC fanzine the Gooner.