Reuters:
Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google corporate brands dropped in an annual survey while Amazon.com Inc maintained the top spot for the third consecutive year, and electric carmaker Telsa Inc rocketed higher after sending a red Roadster into space.
iPhone maker Apple dropped to 29th from its previous position of No. 5, and Google dropped from 8th to No. 28. Apple had ranked No. 2 as recently as 2016, according to the annual Harris Poll Reputation Quotient poll released on Tuesday.
John Gerzema, CEO of the Harris Poll, told Reuters in an interview that the likely reason Apple and Google fell was that they have not introduced as many attention-grabbing products as they did in past years, such as when Google rolled out free offerings like its Google Docs word processor or Google Maps and Apple’s then-CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPod, iPhone and iPad.
That reasoning seems odd. What does “attention-grabbing products” have to do with a company’s reputation? Especially given that “film production company The Weinstein Co made its debut at 99th out of 100 on the list”. So – its reputation got better?
Agreed. Unless the survey allowed audiences to provide a reason, including “attention-grabbing products,” that reasoning behind Apple and Google’s fall in reputation has no validity.
I’d also question who the audience is, considering your mention of The Weinstein Co. That company may have raised in terms of awareness, but I’m not sure many people would say their reputation has increased…
That’s the sense I’m getting too. You beat me to it by a minute!
Meaningless survey.
Right, it almost seems as if it’s really “corporate awareness” rather than “reputation.” Weinstein Co was in the news a ton, for example, so there is far more awareness of them. Apple and Google had relatively quiet years by their standards. Odd to be sure.
Yep, their “most visible” sounds as though the top spot could just as easily be a company that got caught putting babies on pikestaffs as a company that earned praise with excellent goods or services.