Google and Sony lead the pack in the reputation stakes

The study was conducted in two parts. In January 2010, Reputation Institute measured the reputations of the world's 600 largest companies in their home countries. The highest rated companies in each of 32 countries were then selected as candidates for a second study that also rated the world's most visible and valuable corporate brands provided they had above average home country reputations. The outcome of the second study was a final roster of 28 global companies that are well regarded at home but that have also successfully exported their reputations around the world.

The world's most reputable companies

Rank Company (home country) Global Reputation Pulse
1 Google (US) 78.62
2 Sony (Japan) 78.47
3 The Walt Disney Company (US) 77.97
4 BMW (Germany) 77.77
5 Daimler/Mercedes-Benz (Germany) 76.83
6 Apple (US) 76.29
7 Nokia (Finland) 76.00
8 IKEA (Sweden) 75.60
9 Volkswagen (Germany) 75.55
10 Intel (US) 75.39
11 Microsoft (US) 74.47
12 Johnson & Johnson (US) 74.12
13 Panasonic (Japan) 73.67
14 Singapore Airlines (Singapore) 73.54
15 Philips Electronics (The Netherlands) 73.31
16 L'Oreal (France) 73.17
17 IBM (US) 73.03
18 Hewlett-Packard (US) 72.67
19 Barilla (Italy) 72.45
20 Nestlé (Switzerland) 72.37
21 Ferrero (Italy) 72.36
22 Samsung Electronics (Korea) 71.62
23 FedEx (US) 70.84
24 Honda Motor (Japan) 70.82
25 The Coca-Cola Company (US) 70.40
26 Carlsberg (Denmark) 70.31
27 Procter & Gamble (US) 70.21
28 UPS (US) 70.07

"Technology has a powerful grip on the global rankings," says Dr. Charles Fombrun, chairman of Reputation Institute. "Companies like Google, Sony, Apple, Nokia, Intel, and Microsoft have earned our trust and respect because they are all-pervasive solution-providers that affect our daily lives. Disney's global mind-share as an entertainment provider is remarkable, as is the admiration with which consumers hold auto-makers BMW and Daimler/Mercedes-Benz. They are power-houses of reputation-building around the world."

Geographical highlights

Reputation Institute examined how these companies were perceived across five regions: Asia, Central Europe, Central & South America, North America, and Northern Europe.

Top-rated Sony and Google were consistently strong around the world, with Sony scoring among the top five in all regions and Google in four of the five regions. Google did not make it into Asia's top five.
The rankings within regions are:

• Asia: 1) The Walt Disney Company, 2) Daimler/Mercedes Benz, 3) BMW, 4) Sony, and 5) Singapore Airlines.
  
• Central Europe: 1) Sony, 2) BMW, 3) Google, 4) Volkswagen, and 5) Daimler/Mercedes Benz.
  
• Central & South America: 1) Nestlé, 2) Sony, 3) Google, 4) BMW, and 5) Johnson & Johnson.
  
• North America: 1) Johnson & Johnson, 2) Google, 3) Nestlé, 4) The Walt Disney Company, and 5) Sony.
  
• Northern Europe: 1) Google, 2) IKEA, 3) Sony, 4) The Walt Disney Company, and
  5) Singapore Airlines.

Reputation, can you take it with you?

Most companies can expect to be more liked, trusted, admired and respected in their home countries than around the world. Of the 54 companies measured in the study, only five had a better reputation globally than they enjoy in their home markets: Apple, Ford, Google, Nestlé, and Sony.

According to Kasper Nielsen, managing partner of Reputation Institute, "Companies often ask us whether we think they can export their home-grown reputations to other countries. Based on this study, the answer is a qualified yes. Some have done it, but most have not fared as well abroad as they could. It clearly suggests that the same communication strategies used in one country will not always succeed in another. In our reputation analyses, we find that what matters most to consumers can vary widely from one country or region to another. But universally it pays off to build reputation. So companies must identify what people are expecting from them so they can identify areas to focus on in order to earn the support of consumers."

How to tell your corporate story

Consumers want to know what a company is doing beyond its product and services.

Excellent reputations are built across seven key dimensions: Products/Services, Innovation, Governance, Workplace, Citizenship, Leadership and Performance. Statistical analysis shows that each dimension accounts for over 12% of the variation in reputation. Top scorers Google and Sony performed well across dimensions, with Google rated among the top 5 on all 7 dimensions and Sony among the top 10. The results confirm that a balanced reputation platform is what earns trust, esteem, admiration, and good feeling from consumers.

Drivers of reputation vary by industry and country. In 2010, across the final 54 companies measured by Reputation Institute, the most influential factors with consumers are Products/Services, Innovation, and Governance. As Nicolas Trad, managing partner, Reputation Institute, puts it "...The key insight from this analysis is that people care more than ever about the companies behind the products and services they use. Companies can create deeper connections with consumers than products alone can achieve, and they do this by speaking out about who they are as companies and engaging on what matters to them. Getting the word out helps drive business results."

About the Global Reputation Pulse Study

The multinational companies whose reputations were measured across countries include: Apple (AAPL), AT&T (T), Barilla, BP (BP), BMW (BYMTF, BAMXF, BMW), Carlsberg (CABHF, CABJF), Carrefour (CRERF), Daimler/Mercedes-Benz (DAI), Dell (DELL), FedEx (FDX), Ferrero, Fiat (FIATY), Ford Motor (F), General Electric (GE), Google (GOOG), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Hitachi (HIT, HTHIF), Honda Motor (HMC, HNDAF), HSBC Holdings (HBC, HBCYF), Hyundai (HYMLF), IBM (IBM), IKEA, Inditex / Zara (0HAB), ING Group (ING, INGVF), Intel (INTC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Kraft Foods (KFT), Lenovo (LNVGF, LNVGY), LG (LGLD), L'Oreal (LOL), Marks & Spencer Group (MAKSF, MAKSY), McDonald's (MDNDF), Microsoft (MSFT), Nestlé (NSRGY, NSRGF), Nissan Motor (NSANF, NSANY), Nokia (NOK), Panasonic (PC, PCRFF), Pepsico (PEP), Petrobras (PZE, PEFGF), Peugeot (PEUGF), Philips Electronics (PHG), Procter & Gamble (PG), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS), Samsung Electronics (SSNLF), Singapore Airlines (S55:SGX), Sony (SNE), The Coca-Cola Company (KO), The Walt Disney Company (DIS), Toyota Motor (TM, TOYOF), Unilever (ULVR), UPS (UPS), Vodafone (VOD), and Volkswagen (VLKAF).

In May 2010, consumers were invited to rate these 54 finalists in each of 24 countries: Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Each respondent rated a maximum of five randomly assigned companies with which they were familiar, using Reputation Institute's standardised measure of corporate reputation - the Reputation Pulse. A Reputation Pulse score is a measure of corporate reputation calculated by averaging the degree of trust, esteem, admiration, and good feeling people have for a company. Reputation Pulse scores range from a low of 0 to a high of 100, and scores that differ by more than +/-0.5 are significantly different at the 95% confidence level. Scores are normalised to enable cross-country compilations and comparisons.

Over 181 000 reputation ratings were obtained in this study, and each company received an average of 3360 ratings across the 24 countries. A total of 28 companies earned global scores above 70 and therefore membership on Reputation Institute's list of the world's most reputable companies. They are among a very select set of global companies that have succeeded in building strong positive relationships with a wide range of consumers around the world.

For more detail about the Global Reputation Pulse 2010 study, interested readers can download a top line report by going to www.ReputationInstitute.com

About Reputation Institute

Reputation Institute is one of the world's leading reputation consulting firms. As a pioneer in the field of brand and reputation management, Reputation Institute helps companies build better relations with stakeholders. With a presence in 30 countries, the institute is dedicated to advancing knowledge about reputation and shares best practices and current research through client engagement, memberships, seminars, conferences, and publications such as Corporate Reputation Review and Reputation Intelligence. The institute's 2010 Reputation Pulse is reputed to be the largest study of corporate reputations in the world, identifying what drives reputation and covering more than 1500 companies from 35 countries annually. Reputation Institute provides specific reputation insight from more than 15 different stakeholder groups and 24 industries, allowing clients to create tangible value from their intangible assets. Got to www.ReputationInstitute.com for more information.