Corporate Reputations Improve During a Year of Crises according to The RepTrak Company

The RepTrak Company™, the world’s leading reputation data and insights company, announces the results of the 2021 Global RepTrak® 100. The report is the world’s most comprehensive reputation study, compiled for the past 11 years using RepTrak’s in-depth analysis and ranking of the top 100 companies worldwide by Reputation Score.

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“For Mars, building trust is a key business metric”

In 2021, RepTrak found that, overall, it was a much more difficult year to break into the top 100. The average score (on a scale of 1-100) was almost 75, the highest in 11 years. This is an indication of the rigorous reputation management in place among these leaders. Several of the companies that rank highest in the 2021 Global RepTrak 100 are those that have implemented ESG (Environment, Societal impact and Governance) initiatives within their global strategies.

Notable findings include:

• Being relevant mattered in a difficult year. Consumer durables and apparel, technology (both hardware and software) and household and personal products companies lead the way after a year when the world depended on them for productivity, entertainment, comfort and safety.
• Pharmaceutical industry’s Reputation Score improved from “average” to “strong” with vaccines propelling positive perceptions. Sanofi S.A., Eli Lilly Company and Bristol Myers Squibb are among the top 10 for Reputation Score growth this year.
• ESG leadership went to the pharmaceutical and household and personal products industries. The global respondents credited their ESG initiatives more than any other industries, another indication of the importance of pandemic-centered relevance in 2020.
• GenZ (18-25) and Millennial (26-40) perceptions differ. GenZ perceives corporations with the greatest skepticism, as indicated by their weaker levels of support for the seven drivers of corporate reputation codified by RepTrak. Millennials were the most positive of all generational segments. GenX (41-55) and Boomers (56-64) fall in the middle and don’t differ greatly.

2021’s Reputation Leaders

The top 10 companies by Reputation Score, as ranked in the 2021 Global RepTrak® 100, are:

1. The Lego Group
2. Rolex SA
3. Ferrari N.V.
4. The Bosch Group
5. Harley-Davidson, Inc.
6. Canon Inc.
7. adidas AG
8. The Walt Disney Company
9. Microsoft Corp.
10. Sony Group Corp.

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The Lego Group maintains its #1 ranking, showing a steady increase in Reputation Score over the last several years, with all others in the top 10 in a new position compared to last year’s report. These year over year changes indicate that a company must continually work to improve its reputation and stay relevant.

High Growth in a Challenging Year

The top ten (10) of the 100 companies rated by greatest reputation increases and positive movement in their ranking are: Unilever PLC; Mars, Incorporated; Cisco Systems, Inc.; The Samsung Group; Sanofi S.A.; Harley-Davidson, Inc.; HP Inc.; Procter & Gamble Company; Eli Lilly and Company; and Bristol Myers Squibb.

“At Cisco, we take our reputation seriously. Our purpose as a company is to power an inclusive future for all, and this drives everything we do. We believe it starts with the trust of our stakeholders to look after our people, our communities and our planet. This goes hand in hand with our relentless focus on innovation, to provide more choice and opportunities for our customers. The last year has been difficult for many, so it’s truly inspiring to be recognized for the impact we are making, and spurs us onwards to do more,” shared Gerri Elliot, EVP and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Cisco Systems, Inc.

“For Mars, building trust is a key business metric,” said Andy Pharoah, Vice President of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability at Mars, Incorporated, “And we believe maintaining a strong reputation is central to our ability to achieve our goals and live up to our purpose – that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. In the past year, which has been unlike any other, it’s more important than ever for businesses like Mars to communicate regularly and frequently with our stakeholders and Associates. Success is about navigating the challenges of the day with clarity, empathy and integrity. These results demonstrate that our efforts are having a positive impact, and are being recognized more broadly.”

Eighteen (18) companies are new to the Global RepTrak this year, the largest number of newcomers in the Global RepTrak 100 since its inception 11 years ago. These new entrants include luxury fashion leaders (Chanel Inc, Hermès, Prada Group, Burberry Group Plc), travel and automotive industry names (Volvo Group, Booking.com, Continental AG), consumer companies (Costco Wholesale Corporation, ALDI GmbH & Co. KG, Mattel, Inc.) and other leaders: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), BIC, Adobe Systems, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, PayPal, Henkel AG & Co.

ESG rises in importance

ESG stands for Environmental, Social impact and Governance issues. The Global RepTrak 100 results clearly show that there is a strong correlation between companies that adhere to high ESG standards and companies that score favorably on the 2021 Global RepTrak 100.

“ESG is being used for the first time this year as a measurable component of reputation, and we can see firsthand why this is so important for 2021 and beyond. There is a strong correlation between companies who hold themselves to high standards, and companies who rank highly on the 2021 Global RepTrak® 100,” says Kylie Wright-Ford, CEO of The RepTrak Company. “Stakeholders have access to more information than ever before, which is empowering them to make more informed decisions. Companies must not only deliver a quality product, but also show that they are doing so in an ethical and globally considerate way.”

RepTrak is the only provider of data and insights around ESG perception at a global scale. For Environment, RepTrak looks at how companies are perceived with regard to climate change, the use of resources and the minimization of its carbon footprint. Social investigates perceptions of how companies lead on human rights, their participation in their local communities and how they handle employees and customers. Governance relates to the leadership, ethics and rights of shareholders and other stakeholders.

Report and Methodology

RepTrak helps companies understand how stakeholders feel, think, and act towards them, measuring reputation using a 0-100 scale and tracking how a company is perceived across several reputation drivers: Products & Services, Innovation, Citizenship, Performance, Governance, Leadership and Workplace. RepTrak’s proprietary measurement system has been developed to allow worldwide application on a normative scale, which enables direct comparison regardless of sector, size, or geography.

For consideration in the 2021 Global RepTrak® 100, a company had to meet the following criteria:

• Be a corporate brand with global revenue above USD $2 billion
• Achieve a global average familiarity threshold above 20 percent in all fifteen countries measured and a familiarity threshold above 20 percent in eight or more of the fifteen countries measured
• Reach a qualifying Reputation Score above the median score (i.e., 67.3 points)

To determine the ranking, The RepTrak Company analyzed reputation data for several thousand companies which was collected between December 2020 and January 2021 using world class survey methodology and was enriched by RepTrak’s historical database. Companies that met these criteria were then ranked based on their global Reputation Scores. A company’s corporate reputation is determined using RepTrak’s proprietary and patent-pending Reputation Score – a score from 0-100 that measures how people feel towards a particular company. Reputation Scores demonstrate a strong positive relationship with business outcomes, such as an audience’s willingness to buy, recommend, or trust a company. The top 100 companies with the highest Reputation Scores made the final ranking.

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