While Apple still holds a commanding lead, a new survey from research firm Reputation Institute claims that both Apple and Samsung have suffered significant drops in their reputations over the last year. The data, which was collected from over 170,000 consumers, shows that Apple has slipped to the 20th spot on the list, while Samsung dropped to number 70.
Both of these rankings are significant changes compared to last year. Apple landed in the 10th slot last year, while Samsung had placed 17th. Though Samsung’s drop is obviously more dramatic, Apple’s is a continuation of the trend during the last few years.
As for what Reputation Institute’s RepTrak study aims to show:
“The annual Global RepTrak® 100 spotlights the companies that truly understand what they stand for and how to reinforce the emotional bond with their stakeholders across all the markets they serve,”
Back in 2011, Apple was essentially tied as the number one most reputable brand, but since then the company has slowly been slipping. The fall from 10th to 20th marks its sharpest year-over-year drop yet. In the announcement, Reputation Institute’s chief marketing officer explained that it isn’t explicitly clear as to why Apple saw such a dramatic fall (via CNET):
“Apple still has an excellent reputation for its products and corporate performance, but as the perceptions of its governance and citizenship fade, the company is starting to take a hit when it comes to its overall corporate reputation,” Allen Bonde explained.
Samsung’s fall, however, shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise considering the company’s recent Galaxy Note 7 debacle and bribery scandal. With the Galaxy S8 on the horizon, though, things are looking up for the company.
Coming in at the top of the list is Rolex, while LEGO Group holds the runner-up slot. Following those are The Walt Disney Company, Canon, and Google, who respectively round out the top 5. From there, Bosch, Sony, Intel, Rolls-Royce, and Adidas close out the top 10.
Reputation Institute’s latest list comes following commentary from Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White last week, who explained that Apple has the upper hand on Samsung now more than ever. Samsung also recently dropped out of Fortune’s top 50 most admired companies, while Apple came in at number one.
The full details concerning the RepTrak study can be read below:
Rolex, Lego, and Disney Top Reputation Institute’s 2017 Global RepTrak® 100 – The World’s Largest Corporate Reputation Study
Reputation Institute (RI), the world’s leading provider of stakeholder measurement, membership and management services, today announced the company’s annual Global RepTrak® 100 rankings. Based on over 170,000 ratings collected in the first quarter of 2017, the survey is the largest corporate reputation study of its kind, and includes comparative ratings, trends by demographic cuts, and unique insights into which companies are best regarded by stakeholders as well as what drives trust and supportive behaviors such as willingness to purchase a company’s products, recommend the brand, invest in or even work for the company.
The top 10 companies in RI’s 2017 Global RepTrak® 100 are:
1. Rolex
2. LEGO Group
3. The Walt Disney Company
4. Canon
5. Google
6. Bosch
7. Sony
8. Intel
9. Rolls-Royce
10. Adidas
“The annual Global RepTrak® 100 spotlights the companies that truly understand what they stand for and how to reinforce the emotional bond with their stakeholders across all the markets they serve,” said Michele Tesoro-Tess, RI executive partner. “This year’s Top 10 companies come from different sectors: reputation is a cross-industry asset and companies continuously invest on it because their leaderships finally recognized its impact on business performances.”
RI’s RepTrak® System measures the general public’s perception of the world’s top companies on seven key rational dimensions of reputation: products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership and performance. An “Excellent” reputation is represented by an overall RepTrak® Pulse score of 80 or higher. For the first time, the company with the highest rating and the top spot (Rolex) falls into the “Excellent” range. A RepTrak® Pulse score of 70-79 is considered “Strong,” while 60-69 is “Average.” None of the companies in the 2017 RepTrak® Top 100 scored below 64.
Regarding specific stakeholder expectations, respondents identified Rolex as the global leader in products and services, and LEGO Group as best in governance. While Google was perceived as leading in 5 dimensions: innovation, workplace, citizenship, leadership and performance.
Key Trends by Industry:
In terms of trends, 2017 saw the rise of heritage luxury brands like Rolex and Rolls-Royce, while consumer products took seven of the top ten spots in this year’s survey, with LEGO Group jumping 4 spots to 2nd, and Adidas moving into the top 10.
In the tech sector, Intel returned to the top 10 (to 8th place) in 2017 after a one-year absence. Meanwhile Google (5th place) fell 2 spots, Microsoft fell out of the top 10 to 11th, and Apple slipped 10 spots to 20th place with a drop of 1.7 points. Samsung posted the most notable decline with its RepTrak® Pulse score dropping 4.0 points vs. 2016 and is now in 70th place overall.
Among automakers, both BMW Group (12th place) and Daimler (27th place) both fell out the top 10, while Toyota, Honda, Ford and GM all showed modest gains vs. 2016. Meanwhile Volkswagen, who continues to deal with the aftermath of its emissions scandal nonetheless returned to the top 100 (in 100th place) and saw its RepTrak® Pulse score recover by 3.4 points to 64.73 – one of the largest increases in 2017.
“For brands looking to benchmark how their reputation compares to industry peers, our Global RepTrak® 100 is the place to start,” said Allen Bonde, RI chief marketing officer. “Looking at top performers, it’s clear that offering high quality products, standing behind them, and meeting customer needs is foundational to delivering on the brand promise. But our data also shows that companies with a strong sense of purpose who are committed to improving on all dimensions of reputation – especially governance and citizenship – tend to be the most highly regarded.”
Learn More and Get Your Company’s Pulse Score:
On an annual basis, RI measures the reputation of thousands of companies using its RepTrak® framework, and for its Global RepTrak® 100 study measures the most highly regarded and familiar multinational companies in 15 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
To access the full list of the most reputable companies in the world please visit: http://www.reputationinstitute.com/thought-leadership/global-reptrak-100.
To hear perspectives from RI experts on key trends, what they mean, and how you can leverage our insights to build and protect your reputation capital, view our webinars at: http://www.reputationinstitute.com/events.
To get your company’s 2017 score and learn how you can improve your ranking and grow your stakeholder support, just ask us at: https://www.reputationinstitute.com/about/contact-us.
About Reputation Institute:
Founded in 1997, Reputation Institute (RI) is the world’s leading provider of stakeholder measurement, membership and management services, working with more than 400 of the top Global 1000 companies. Serving corporate communications and marketing executives and their teams, RI delivers our data, insights and best practices through subscription services, hands-on consulting, and our RLN events and executive training. RI’s proprietary RepTrak® System is the gold standard for analyzing reputations across industries, geographies and stakeholders, and powers our Global, National, Country and CSR studies.
Learn more at: http://www.reputationinstitute.com
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments