Boston, MA, March 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reputation Institute (RI), the world’s leading provider of reputation measurement and management services, today announced the company’s annual Global RepTrak® 100 rankings. The world’s largest corporate reputation study of its kind, the Global RepTrak 100 (RT100) is based on more than 230,000 individual ratings collected in the first quarter of 2018. It includes comparative rankings, demographic trends, and unique insights into the dynamics behind reputational impact. The global study shows what drives trust and identifies supportive behaviors such as intent to purchase a company’s products, willingness to invest in, or even work for, the company.
“The reputation bubble has burst. Companies are down by an average of 1.4 points globally, representing the first major decline since the end of the Great Recession,” said Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, Executive Partner and Chief Research Officer for Reputation Institute.
Rankings dropped for 58 percent of companies in the RT100. Aligned with the decline in reputation, garnering support among stakeholders has become more difficult for companies; expectations have risen, making it harder to earn trust, attain benefit of the doubt, create consumer loyalty and entice investors.
“There is a growing crisis of trust in the world, especially among big companies making record profits,” said Hahn-Griffiths. “These companies are increasingly judged on aspects of their morality and ethics. Today, companies are more widely scrutinized based on their alignment with social causes, how they behave, their enterprise-wide values and the internal culture they create – they are not solely measured on what they make or how the make it.”
Of the companies that featured prominently, BMW and Microsoft broke into the Top 10, while Intel and Rolls-Royce fell out of the top echelon.
The top 10 companies in RI’s 2018 Global RepTrak® 100 are:
1. Rolex
2. LEGO Group
3. Google
4. Canon
5. The Walt Disney Company
6. Sony
7. Adidas
8. Robert Bosch
9. BMW Group
10. Microsoft
Rolex earned the top spot overall as the most reputable company in the world.
“Continuous innovation, perpetual exploration and lasting excellence are the foundations of our company,” said Virginie Chevailler, Head of Public Relations at Rolex. “We are pleased to be ranked first on the Global RepTrak 100 for the third year in a row. This is hard-earned recognition of our sustainable contribution to society and our commitment to inspire future generations through our products as well as our philanthropic, environmental and sports partnerships.”
“Our purpose as a company – to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow – is what drives us and keeps us on our toes,” said Niels B. Christiansen, CEO of The Lego Group. “To be ranked second on the Global RepTrak 100 survey is a great honour. We are humbled and proud that people hold us in such high regard. This doesn’t happen by accident; it is the result of our dedicated colleagues prioritizing children first and delivering play experiences that help them develop those essential skills needed for the future.”
New to the Global RepTrak® study this year is Mars Incorporated, which ranked 84th overall. Andy Pharoah, VP Corporate Affairs and Strategic Initiatives said, “Reputation is critical to every aspect of our business and is a leading indicator of our positive influence on society.”
This year’s overall results include dynamic changes among companies in the rankings.
- High risers in the Top 100 rankings are Samsung (+44), LG (+22), Nestle (+21), and Netflix (+16).
- Among companies experiencing significant declines, fast fallers include Apple (-38), Daimler (-32), J&J (-28), Ab InBev (-27) and Estee Lauder (-26).
Industries are also witnessing rapid changes.
- Six of the Top 10 are consumer-oriented industries, and the category accounts for 27 percent of the Top 100.
- Technology replaced Automotive as the third most prevalent industry, after Consumer, followed by Food and Beverages.
- The most affected categories in average rankings decline are Hospitality (-16), Transportation (-13), and Airlines (-12).
Among home countries, the US leads the way with 43 percent of American companies in the Top 100. However, only three US companies made the Top 10 in 2018 and 71 percent of US companies dropped in rankings. Companies from Japan and Germany rank second and third in the world in terms of rankings overall (after the US), and three Brazilian companies appeared in the Top 100 for the first time.
“There is a growing interest and observation of CEO behavior and activism and it’s strongly influencing reputation trends,” said Hahn-Griffiths. “Beyond declaring earnings reports, there is a need for the voice of the CEO to be heard and associated with issues that matter to society. The results show that the reputation of the CEO can have a significant impact on how a company is perceived.”
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. 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 RI insights to build and protect reputation capital, view webinars at: http://www.reputationinstitute.com/events.
To get your company’s 2018 score and learn how to improve your ranking and grow stakeholder support, just ask us at: https://www.reputationinstitute.com/about/contact-us.
About Reputation Institute
Reputation Institute powers the world’s most reputable companies. By tracking and analyzing stakeholder perceptions, we unleash the power of reputation to enable leaders to build better companies. Our RepTrak® model analyzes the reputations of companies and is best known as the Forbes-published Global RepTrak® 100. Underlying the model is the RepTrak® methodology, the global gold standard for measuring reputation. Learn more at: http://www.reputationinstitute.com.
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