Axios and The Harris Poll are out with their annual survey gauging “the reputation of the most visible brands in America.”
This year, the survey pointed to “value” as being key to whether a company was ranked high or low, but this isn’t just about price – it also is about quality that is worth the money, and feeling whether companies are being straight with their customers or taking advantage of them.
Which may explain why Trader Joe’s took the top spot out of 100 companies ranked, followed by Patagonia, Microsoft, Toyota, Costco, Samsung, Arizona Beverage Co., Nvidia, UPS, and Apple.
Some context from the report:
“Value is the story this year: Nearly half (46%) of all corporate reputations declined than improved (37%), as consumers criticized businesses for passing along higher costs, delivering poorer perceived quality for their stretched dollars, and even capitalizing on tariffs to pad profit margins:
– 77% of Americans say companies often sell lower-quality products and services while charging higher prices.
– 70% believe companies are taking further advantage of inflation to increase their profit margins.
– 60% feel companies will use tariffs as an opportunity to raise prices more than needed to boost profits.
“This comes as Americans are split over whether the economy is improving and whom to blame for their personal financial situation. Among those who feel stuck (39%) and falling behind (28%) – a quarter (26%) fault business for their predicament. And among those with a declining opinion of business, their number one reason cited was ‘companies not doing enough to keep prices fair from inflation.’ And over half of all Americans said they had recently stopped doing business with a company due to unreasonably high prices (63%) and quality falling below expectations (54%).
“Themes of value, quality and allyship emerge across the best ranked companies.”
Other food companies and retailers that made the list include: Home Depot (#15), Kraft Heinz (#18), Amazon (#19), In-N-Out (#20), Lowe’s (#23), Ben & jerry’s (#24), Coca-Cola (#25), Chick-fil-A (#26), Procter & Gamble (#29), Aldi (#32), Best Buy (#34), Kroger (#35), PepsiCo (#42), Chipotle (#56), Walgreens (#56), Macy’s (#67), Target (#68), Taco Bell (#70), Starbucks (#71), Dollar Tree (#75), McDonald’s (#80), Walmart (#81), Burger King (#84), Dollar General (#85), Anheuser Busch (#87), JC Penney (#89), and Shein (#94).
A warning sign from the report: “Perceived quality is falling: Consumers are twice as likely to say the quality of goods and services is falling behind their current prices than exceeding them (48% v. 22%). Especially as two-thirds (69%) report a noticeable decline in the quality of their everyday items.”
KC’s View:
I continue to believe that one of the most important things a business can do in terms of communicating value – as opposed to just low price – is to actually communicate. Establishing “value” can be nuanced, and it requires treating shoppers like adults.
I do think that some of these rankings have to be taken with a grain of salt; hard to imagine that Walmart is so low, for example. Surveys are just snapshots, a moment in time. But I think the broader lesson, about the importance of value and trust in the shopper-retailer equation, is unquestionable, and can translate to any time and any place.
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