2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved.

The Global
RepTrak

100
A Study of the Worlds
Most Reputable
Companies in 2011
REPUTATION
INSTITUTE
2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved. 2
RepTrak Pulse
Reputation Institute (RI) has been studying the dynamics of corporate reputations since 1997. A global project to measure the
reputations of the most visible companies in the world was implemented each year from 1999 to 2005 with the collaboration
of RI in numerous countries, including Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the U.K.,
and the U.S.
In 2006, Reputation Institute conducted a multi-national study to understand how reputations had evolved over the preceding
decade. Based on this research, the Global RepTrak was developed and the RepTrak Pulse study was launched in March 2006.
The results of this study are published worldwide through Forbes.com as well as through local partners in the now 32 countries
included in the study.
What is important to note is that most polls on industries address the publics expectations of business overall and/or their
ratings of business conduct in general. The Global RepTrak Pulse study, by comparison, measures public perceptions of
specic companies. Through the survey, consumers are asked to opine on the reputation and conduct of individual companies
based in their countries. The data here on the industry overall is compiled from how the public sees specic companies in
their home country.
REPUTATION
INSTITUTE
2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved. www.ReputationInstitute.com 3
Companies increasingly compete for market share and mind
share in all corners of the world. Having a strong and favor-
able reputation with consumers plays a critical role in helping
a company to differentiate itself from rivals. At the same time,
consumers want to know more about the companies that
stand behind the products and services that they buy. A
well-respected corporate brand can signal credibility, trust,
and support, which can help generate returns.
The 2011 Global RepTrak 100: The Worlds Most
Reputable Companies summarizes the results of a
comprehensive analysis of the worlds 100 top-rated
companies based on input from over 50,000 consumers in
15 countries. The study identies the powerhouse companies
that dominate the list, and analyzes the factors that have
enabled a select group of companies to consistently earn
high marks from consumers. (It is a subset of a larger study
of 2,800 companies in 41 countries, in which each company
was evaluated by consumers only in its home country.)
The results of the 2011 Global RepTrak 100 conrm
something we already suspected: That many companies
have done a very good job of building reputation capital in
their home markets. The results also tell us, however, that
not all successful companies have effectively exported their
reputation capital to other competitive markets. Consequent-
ly, the report provides a rare glimpse into the global market
positions of some of the worlds largest companies. It helps
explain why so few companies have managed to build a large
reservoir of goodwill around the world. It also shows how
understanding what these successful companies have done
can provide managers with valuable insight to understand
the challenges they face in navigating the rough waters of
the rapidly emerging Reputation Economy.
Welcome to the Reputation Economy!
If the 1990s were the age of innovation and the 2000s were
the risk decade, then what can we say of our new decade?
A battery of ndings suggests that in the brave new world of
the 2010s, its not only what you sell, but also what you stand
for and how you conduct business that matter most. The
prolonged global nancial crisis of the past few years has led
some pundits to declare a new normal environment char-
acterized by permanently changed consumer behaviora
change primarily driven by increased awareness and scrutiny
of our primary engine for doing business, the corporation.
From this standpoint, the 2010s are already speaking to us
about the emergence of co-opetition, an ecosystem point
of view that sees companies involved as much in collabora-
tion as competition. In this new environment, perceptions of
companies drive investor behavior as much as the reality of
their nancials, and consumer perceptions drive trafc to or
away from a companys products and jobs at least as much as
the characteristics of the products and services themselves.
Products epitomized by their brands represent only a
fraction of the story, and companies need to compete
successfully in terms of the corporate personas they evoke.
Do people believe companies are doing good things in their
communities: Do they make charitable contributions or
sponsor local groups? Are they environmentally conscious?
How well does a company treat its workers, and does it
provide them with a fairly run and safe work environment?
Do investors believe the company is well run? Do they trust
managers to deliver bottom-line results? Effective leadership
and corporate ethics, evidenced by such factors as executive
pay, the composition of the board, and the transparency of
management decisions and operations, are all coming
under close scrutiny, not only from regulators, but by all of
a companys stakeholders.
The Global RepTrak

100:
A Study of the Worlds Most Reputable Companies in 2011
2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved.
REPUTATION
INSTITUTE 4
Consider these facts from studies conducted by
Reputation Institute in 2011:
Fifty-eight percent of peoples willingness to recommend
a company is driven by their perception of the
company; only 42% depends on perceptions of the
companys products and services.
Two-thirds of C-suite executives at the 150 largest U.S.
companies believe we have already entered the
Reputation Economy.
Among the 150 largest companies in the US, 25
percent now coordinate their reputation strategy and
enterprise story through the CEOs ofce.
Companies with excellent reputations are two and a half
times more likely to have CEOs setting the strategy for
enterprise positioning than those with weaker reputations.
Taken singly, these trends justify and conrm the impor-
tance we are attaching to the emergence of the Reputation
Economy. Staff engagement gures prominently in this effort,
because employees are a companys public face. Think of
bank tellers, store clerks, and customer service reps. A good
experience at the basic level can help win the loyalty of the
initial customer, and is likely to spread more widely through
the web of connections consumers make across the ecosys-
tem. Today, that network can have a huge impact because of
the rapid spread of information through social media.
CEOs, who are at the top of the staff pyramid, must play
an active part in supporting and managing reputation by
making it a strategic priority and communicating that. Board
buy-in is just as important, along with a focus on addressing
reputation at an enterprise-wide level and with a cross-func-
tional approach.
Corporate social responsibility is a fundamental component
of stakeholder engagement in the Reputation Economy.
Corporations around the world are embracing sustainability,
effective waste management, and CO
2
reduction.
Just as positive efforts can improve reputation, negative
events can hurt it. As an energy company, BP has faced
signicant challenges in developed countries over the
years. But it was the companys Gulf of Mexico oil spill
that sank its reputation in 2010.

The overarching message that comes through from
Reputation Institutes 2011 study is that perceptions
matter more than ever in the wired and connected global
village we now inhabit. To meet the challenges of this fast
and sometimes furious world, corporations are allocating
larger portions of their budgets to reputation manage-
ment. While some companies approach it defensively as a
part of crisis management, thats only part of the story.
Done right, reputation management creates value. The
2011 Global RepTrak 100 report shows us how.
How Did We Measure Reputation?
In 2006, Reputation Institute set out to assess the health
of corporate reputations around the world. We created a
proprietary tool called The RepTrak System. Its based
on the simple notion that a reputation develops from the
emotional bond that stakeholders feel for a company: its
Pulse. The RepTrak Pulse actually measures the degree
of Admiration, Trust, Good Feeling, and Overall Esteem
that respondents express about companies.
Extensive international eldwork conducted using the
RepTrak System since 2006 indicates that seven key
dimensions drive corporate reputation: Products/Servic-
es, Innovation, Workplace, Governance, Citizenship,
Leadership, and Performance. The RepTrak System
evaluates the degree to which a particular dimension
affects the emotional bond between a particular
stakeholder group and a company. We care about this
because a better reputation drives the level of support
that consumers will express for a company through the
recommendations they make, as well as their willingness
to give a company the benet of the doubt during
a crisis.
www.ReputationInstitute.com 2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved. 5
The RepTrak 100
Which Companies Made the Cut?
Aware that companies increasingly view the entire world
as a marketplace (and others hope to), the RepTrak 100
report focused on consumer perceptions of companies across
multiple countries and regions.
To be included and evaluated as one of the 100 nalists,
companies had to meet four specic criteria:
1. They were among the largest companies in their home
country in terms of annual revenues.
2. They had earned an above-average reputation score based
on our global database of home-market RepTrak scores
gathered from 2006 to 2010.
3. They could claim either a multinational presence or
a global footprint in production and distribution around
the world.
4. They had high familiarity with consumers in the following
15 countries and four regions:

Asia-Pacic: Australia, China, India, Japan,

and South Korea

Europe: France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain,

and the United Kingdom

Latin America: Brazil and Mexico

North America: Canada and the United States.

The 100 corporate nalists have broad geographic origins
with 40% headquartered in Europe, 37% in the U.S., 20% in
the Asia-Pacic region, and 3% in Latin America and Africa.
They operate principally in the automotive, electronics,
computer, consumer goods, and food sectors. To rate the
100 nalists, Reputation Institute conducted an online global
survey in April 2011 that gathered over 165,000 responses
from more than 50,000 consumers around the world. Survey
Sampling International and Toluna collected the data. For
each company, at least 100 members of the general public
rated a company on the RepTrak scorecard if they were
at least somewhat familiar with it. The distribution of
respondents in a given country represented its populations
age, gender, and region.
The RepTrak System
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2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved. 6
The 2011 Global RepTrak 100: The Worlds Most Reputable Companies
Company Company
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
79.99
79.77
79.51
79.42
79.26
79.05
79.03
78.07
77.56
77.33
77.29
76.92
76.84
76.75
76.17
76.01
75.90
75.75
75.72
75.20
75.09
75.01
74.84
74.68
74.66
74.62
74.41
74.27
73.99
73.92
73.88
73.83
73.63
73.60
73.49
73.21
73.14
73.09
73.08
72.99
72.99
72.84
72.76
72.75
72.70
72.68
72.68
72.34
72.20
72.16
72.15
72.04
72.00
71.77
71.77
71.57
71.53
71.50
71.37
71.26
71.11
71.11
71.04
70.99
70.97
70.66
70.65
70.52
70.39
70.31
70.15
69.80
69.66
69.51
69.45
69.36
69.30
69.29
68.65
68.36
68.33
68.26
68.19
68.02
67.94
67.91
67.72
67.19
65.27
65.24
65.08
64.96
64.92
64.73
64.01
64.01
63.51
62.52
62.25
59.54
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
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74
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79
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81
82
83
84
85
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87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
Google
Apple
The Walt Disney Company
BMW
LEGO
Sony
Daimler
Canon
Intel
Volkswagen
Microsoft
Nike, Inc.
Panasonic
Johnson & Johnson
Nokia
Nestle
Hewlett-Packard
Michelin
LOral
Kelloggs
Goodyear
Ferrero
Philips Electronics
3M
Nintendo
Colgate-Palmolive
IBM
The Coca-Cola Company
Honda Motor
Danone
Pirelli
Ikea
Amazon.com
Dell
Sony Ericsson
Bridgestone
Swatch Group
Xerox
Marriott International (USA)
Cisco Systems
Eastman Kodak
Deutsche Lufthansa
Samsung Electronics
Procter & Gamble
Toshiba
FedEx
Fujilm
Siemens
UPS
Hilton Worldwide
LVMH Group
Barilla
DuPont
Sharp
Singapore Airlines
Boeing
HJ Heinz
Electrolux
Unilever
Toyota
Nissan Motor
Roche
Suzuki Motor
General Electric
LG Corporation
Hitachi
Heineken
Oracle
Marks & Spencer Group
ACER INC
Kraft Foods Inc.
Virgin Group
Qantas Airways
Airbus
GlaxoSmithKline
PepsiCo
SAS
Fujitsu
Starbucks Coffee Company
General Mills
Avon
Zara
Hyundai
Carlsberg
Lenovo Group
Air France-KLM
Motorola
Sara Lee
De Beers
Diageo
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Vodafone
Petrobras
Carnival
Carrefour
SABMiller
Lockheed Martin
Tsingtao Beer
Haier Group
BHP Billiton
USA
USA
USA
Germany
Denmark
Japan
Germany
Japan
USA
Germany
USA
USA
Japan
USA
Finland
Switzerland
USA
France
France
USA
USA
Italy
The Netherlands
USA
Japan
USA
USA
USA
Japan
France
Italy
Sweden
USA
USA
United Kingdom
Japan
Switzerland
USA
USA
USA
USA
Germany
South Korea
USA
Japan
USA
Japan
Germany
USA
USA
France
Italy
USA
Japan
Singapore
USA
USA
Sweden
Netherlands / UK
Japan
Japan
Switzerland
Japan
USA
South Korea
Japan
Netherlands
USA
United Kingdom
Taiwan
USA
United Kingdom
Australia
France
United Kingdom
USA
Sweden
Japan
USA
USA
USA
Spain
South Korea
Denmark
China
France
USA
USA
South Africa
United Kingdom
Belgium
United Kingdom
Brazil
USA
France
United Kingdom
USA
China
China
Australia / UK
Country Country Rank Rank Score Score
REPUTATION
INSTITUTE
2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved.
The Best of the Best
What makes a company truly world class? Across the 15
countries of the study, Google ranked as the top-rated
company by consumers for the second year in a row, followed
closely by Apple, The Walt Disney Company, BMW, and LEGO.
Sony dropped to sixth place from its second place nish in
2010. Joining the tech-heavy ranks along with Canon and
Intel, veteran automakers Daimler and Volkswagen rounded
out the top 10.
The 2011 Global RepTrak study found that nine of the
top-10 companies scored well across most, if not all, of the
seven reputation dimensions: Products/Services, Innovation,
Workplace, Governance, Citizenship, Leadership, and
Performance. It conrms our observation that world-class
reputations are characterized by the breadth of their
platformsnot just products and services. People care more
and more about the enterprises behind the things they buy.
Canon was the sole company in the top 10 that placed among
the best of the best in only a single dimension.
Consider Google and Apple, the companies on which
consumers lavished the highest praise. Both companies
performed exceptionally well on all reputation dimensions,
and each received top scores in three of these measures.
Google was number one in Citizenship, Governance, and
Workplace, while Apple was the top-ranked company in
Leadership, Performance, and Innovation, suggesting that
these corporations are admired not just for the products
they offer, but for the enterprises theyve built. For example,
Google strives to keep its employees happy with lavish
employee benets, and the company is also well known
for supporting community initiatives and promoting
transparency. Apples consummate management team has
been credited with developing some of the worlds most
desired tech products, all of which have contributed to the
rms stellar nancial performance.
WHAT HAPPENED TO SONY?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
The Top Ten
7 www.ReputationInstitute.com
Corporate reputations can be precarious assets. Warren Buffet framed it as such when he famously said, It takes 20 years to
build a reputation and ve minutes to ruin it.
Despite Buffetts pithy remark, it turns out that corporate reputations may be more resilient than they might at rst appear.
Take Sony, for example. Over its 65 years in business, Sony has built one of the strongest reputations in the world. Results from
our 2010 RepTrak study placed Sony as the second most reputable company in the world (just behind Google). And an
impressive 71 percent of respondents indicated they would give Sony the benet of the doubt in times of crisis, a testament to
the companys loyal stakeholders and, presumably, its ability to maintain its enviable reputation in difcult times.
Sonys resilience was tested in April 2011 when the company faced its largest reputation crisis in years. Hackers stole a wealth of
sensitive user data from the PlayStation network. To make matters worse, Sony waited more than a week to disclose the security
breach, explaining that user data, perhaps including credit card information, had been compromised. Users were confused and
outraged. They criticized the company for questionable security practices and slow communication in responding to this critical
issue. The media followed suit, transforming the PlayStation communitys angst into the fuel for a crisis.
The effects of crises have been visible in Sonys stock price since March 2011. The rst decline could be traced to the effects of
the Tsunami that ravaged Japan and lowered assessments of the rms ability to supply and deliver its products and servicesit
arguably demonstrates an 8% drop in Sonys market value. The second drop can be traced to the Hacker attack that struck in the
media in May 2011.
While Sonys stock price dropped, its reputation has largely weathered the storm. A post-crisis measurement of Sonys RepTrak
Pulse placed it sixth among the most reputable companies in the world. Although this represents a drop of several places from
last year, Sony still ranks among the top 10. It scored high at 79.05, less than 2 points lower than its 2011 pre-crisis score. A re-
sounding 72.1% of respondents continue to say that they would give Sony the benet of the doubt during a crisis. Despite a host
of problemsallegations of communication failure, a well-publicized threat to the companys performance fundamentals and
supply chain from the March tsunami, and frustrated consumers who still dont feel adequately compensatedSonys reputa-
tion remains robust and resilient.
The tables below indicate how differently Sonys reputation was affected across markets. In most Western economies, Sony ex-
perienced a signicant decline in reputation of up to 6.6 points. Oddly, however, in the BRIC markets Sonys reputation remained
either unchanged (in Russia and China) or increased by up to 3.8 points (in Brazil and India). The reputation boost following the
hacker crisis was highest in Mexico. The results conrm the importance of closely examining the societal context within which
companies like Sony operate.
WHAT HAPPENED TO SONY? (CTD)

Brazil
Canada
China
India
Mexico
Russia
74.84
78.05
75.83
76.46
74.19
85.81
78.65
79.13
77.31
80.03
78.44
85.98
3.81
1.03
1.49
3.56
4.25
0.17
Markets Where Sonys Reputation Improved
Brazil 74.84 78.65 3.81
India 76.46 80.03 3.56
Canada 78.05 79.13 1.03
Mexico 74.19 78.44 4.25
China 75.83 77.31 1.49
Russia 85.81 85.98 0.17

Australia
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
South Korea
Spain
United Kingdom
USA
88.52
82.30
83.58
84.25
78.23
69.34
84.55
89.14
82.81
83.49
81.39
78.09
82.45
73.39
67.97
82.24
85.52
78.78
-5.03
-0.91
-5.49
-1.80
-4.84
-1.37
-2.31
-6.62
-4.03
Country RepTrak
TM
Pulse RepTrak
TM
Pulse Difference
Country RepTrak
TM
Pulse RepTrak
TM
Pulse Difference
April 2011 May 2011
April 2011 May 2011
Markets Where Sonys Reputation Declined
0
-10
-20
0
-10
-20
March April May
The Tsunami Effect:
8% Drop in Sonys Market Value
--
-
The Hacker Attack:
Sony Drops another 7%
or $2 billion
S&P 500
8
REPUTATION
INSTITUTE 2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved.
www.ReputationInstitute.com 2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved. 9
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12.6% 18.6%
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Factor Adjusted Regression
n = 18,000
Adj-R
2
= 0.692
The Regional Favorites
The results vary geographically when comparing each
regions top ve to their global counterparts, and when
making comparisons across regions.
North American consumers give top honors to Kelloggs,
LEGO, Johnson & Johnson, Nintendo, and Nestle, showing
a preference for food, amusement, and consumer product
goods. Among these ve, only one, LEGO, also appears in
the global top ve.
Europeans also like LEGO, awarding it the number one spot,
with Google, Canon, BMW, and Sony rounding out the top
ve. Three of the European choices also appear among the
global top ve.
Latin America favored Google as its number one, matching
the companys global standing. The region also favored
Sony, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and Nestle, showing a 40
percent overlap with the global standouts.
The Asia-Pacic region placed The Walt Disney Company at
the top, with Microsoft, Daimler, Apple, and Nike following
to complete the top ve. Like Latin America, the Asia-Pacic
region had a 40 percent overlap with the global choices.
In addition to differences based on geography, a comparison
of global, emerging-market, and developed-country results
shows interesting variations. Developed countries correlated
more strongly with global results, putting LEGO, the Walt
Disney Company, Google, and Apple (which are four of the
global top ve), among their top ve, too. Sony was the sole
outlier; it achieved top-ve status in the developed countries,
but only a top 10 ranking globally.
With lower overlap, BMW, Google, and Apple scored among
the top ve both globally and among emerging-market
respondents. But the number one emerging-market pick,
Nokia, didnt even make it to the global top 10. And Intel,
the fth emerging-market choice, scored only among the
top 10 globally.
Dimensions Do the Driving
The results also suggest that to achieve an outstanding
global reputation, companies must rank high on all seven
dimensions, which can be grouped into three categories.
Consumer experience includes Products/Services and
Innovation; corporate social responsibility covers Workplace,
Governance, and Citizenship; and corporate enterprise
deals with Leadership and Performance.
Consumers want quality and reliability, and so gave the
German auto industry high marks in the Products/Services
dimension. BMW came in at number one and Volkswagen
at number 10. Respondents gave the German carmakers yet
another vote of condence by choosing Daimler as number
2. Five of the other top slots went to Apple, Sony, Google,
Intel, and Cannon, representing the electronics and computer
industries that have become indispensible. LEGO and Nike,
which help in exercising the mind and the body, respectively,
rounded out the top 10.
In a decade of rapid change, companies need to evaluate
and improve their offerings on an ongoing basis. Innovation,
therefore, is important. Electronics and computers dominate
this dimension of reputation. Apple, which rst won
renown for its path-breaking computers and more recently
for its mobile devices, took the prize for Innovation. Sony,
Google, Microsoft, Intel, and Nintendo followed among
the top 10. Luxury German carmakers BMW and Daimler
scored high on this dimension as well, along with Nokia
and The Walt Disney Company.
The Global Drivers of Reputation 2011
REPUTATION
INSTITUTE
10
HOW DIFFERENT ARE THE BRIC COUNTRIES?
10
Beyond consumer experience, the results indicate that
societal factors have become a major consideration in how
people perceive and judge companies. The public favors
rms that provide employees with a good working environ-
ment, run their enterprises ethically, and make the world a
better place. Taking rst place in Workplace, Governance,
and Citizenship, Google swept the corporate social respon-
sibility category. Apple, Microsoft, Daimler, The Walt Disney
Company, Sony, LEGO, and Volkswagen also appear among
the top 10 on all three dimensions.Breaking the mold of re-
peating companies in the top 10, Johnson & Johnson and
Ikea each attained a place in the Citizenship dimension.
Finally, the dimensions of Leadership and Performance,
which matter most to investors, also mattered to consum-
ers. Even the public is asking for well-organized CEOs with
vision as well as managerial skills. They expect sound nancial
performance, which means protable companies with strong
growth prospects. Results for the two corporate enterprise
dimensions show a high correlation. The same companies
appear on both top-10 lists, with consumers praising
technology icons Apple, Microsoft, and Google by giving
them rst, second, and third place ratings on each. The Walt
Disney Company, Daimler, Sony, BMW, and Coca-Cola hold
the middle ground, and Intel and Nike bring up the rear.
With the rise of consumer purchasing power in the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China), companies need strategies that can harness
the potential of these promising markets. Each country, however, requires a specialized approach. Relative cultural, social, and
political forces must be taken into account for a company to operate effectively. Recognizing these powerful trends, businesses
have started to shift their approach when doing business in BRIC countries, because what matters to stakeholders in developed
countries may not be as important to their counterparts in emerging markets.
According to the 2011 Global RepTrak Pulse survey, both BRIC and developed countries viewed Products/Services as the most
important driver of reputation, suggesting that stakeholders perceptions of a company are largely inuenced by its tangible out-
put. Governance ranked as the second most important gauge of reputation for both groups. This reveals a nearly universal desire
for more accountable and transparent enterprises behind the products and services companies offer.
But where do the markets differ, exactly? Performance was revealed as a much more important driver of reputation in BRICs than
in developed markets. Financial prosperity for BRIC companies can have noticeably more tangible effects on consumer lifestyles.
As such, the ability to generate prots and increase nancial growth has a more signicant impact on stakeholders Trust, Re-
spect, and Admiration in the BRICs.
The rest of the drivers also vary greatly in importance. Innovation, for example, was the least signicant dimension for the BRIC
countries, while Leadership was near the bottom for other nations. Knowledge of the differences between markets can be lever-
aged when determining localized strategies. Companies should equip themselves with the tools to succeed in whichever regions
they choose to do business.

P
e
r
fo
rm
an
ce
L
e
a
d
e
r
s
h
i
p
C
i
t
i
z
e
n
s
h
ip
Governance
W
o
r
k
p
l
a
c
e
I
n
n
o
v
a
t
i
o
n
Produ
cts/S
e
r
v
ic
e
s
12.6% 18.6%
13.1%
13.4%
15.6%
13.9%
12.8%
P
e
r
fo
rm
an
ce
L
e
a
d
e
r
s
h
i
p
C
i
t
i
z
e
n
s
h
ip
Governance
W
o
r
k
p
l
a
c
e
I
n
n
o
v
a
t
i
o
n
Produ
cts/S
e
r
v
ic
e
s
15.0% 17.4%
11.4%
13.4%
15.6%
14.1%
13.1%
BRIC GLOBAL
The Global Drivers of Reputation 2011
REPUTATION
INSTITUTE 2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved.
www.ReputationInstitute.com 2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved. 11
Beyond Globalization:
What Drives Reputation Regionally?
Both globally and regionally, the Products/Services
dimension had a dominant impact on consumer perceptions.
It had the highest inuence on the perceptions people have
of companies in three out of four regions, although specic
driver percentages varied. Its impact was highest in Latin
America, followed closely by Europe.
The Products/Services dimension comes in second in North
America, behind Governance and just ahead of Citizenship.
The North American results appear consistent with refocused
priorities on ethical business behavior and corporate
social responsibility. It may well have been induced by the
economic crisis that began in 2008, which has severely
affected consumer perceptions in the U.S.
Two of the four regions, Asia, and Europe, mirrored the global
results: There, the Governance dimension turns out to be the
second most important dimension, with third place going to
Citizenship. Again, consumers appear insightful: Doing the
right thing as a business and as a member of society is recog-
nized as important for companies to succeed in these regions.
Governance also came in second in driving perceptions of
companies in Latin America. But the region breaks ranks on
the third-place dimension, with Leadership rated higher
than Citizenship. Latin America also differed from the other
regions by giving two dimensions, Performance and Innova-
tion, scores below 12%. Some of these regional differences
may be because the countries in Latin America are emerging
markets, while the nations in the other regions are largely,
but not entirely, developed nations.
Do the Global RepTrak 100
Outperform?
The results of The RepTrak 100 conrm that companies that
have built a strong emotional bond with consumers realize
tangible benets. Across the 15 largest markets in the world,
companies with strong reputations receive, on average, three
times the support of their less reputable competition.
Reputation can be used to drive this support: If a company
improves its RepTrak Pulse score by 5 points, public
recommendation increases by seven percent. For an
enterprise to build its reputation, this years study shows
that there is tremendous value in telling its corporate story.
If support is higher for better-regarded companies, then their
long-term nancial performance should be higher, too. To
examine whether this is so, Reputation Institute retrieved
nancial data about the Global RepTrak 100 and juxtaposed
it against the results of the study. The table below indicates
that there is a signicant correlation between a companys
reputation and its nancial performance on a number of key
indicators. Among the RepTrak 100, better-rated companies
enjoyed a 9 percent return on assets, compared to the lower-
rated companies that posted a 6 percent ROA. Despite facing
similar risk proles (the market volatility measure of beta
was 1.1 for both groups), investors tended to reward better-
regarded companies by bidding up the price of their shares.
Companies with higher RepTrak Pulse scores had both
higher price-earnings ratios and earnings per share than
lesser-regarded companies in the RepTrak 100. The results
therefore conrm that even among the RepTrak 100, which
are the worlds most reputable rms, consumers and inves-
tors are aligned. The better the reputation of a rm, the more
support it earns from consumers, the better the companys
operating performance, and the more money investors are
willing to pay for their shares.
RepTrak
TM
Pulse
ROA
Price / Earnings
EPS
Beta
Higher Reputation
78.5
9%
19.7
6.2
1.1
Lower Reputation
70.7
6%
13.4
2.6
1.1
The Financial Performance of the RepTrak
TM
100
2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved.
REPUTATION
INSTITUTE 12
AN AUTO INDUSTRY COMEBACK?
The automotive industry, which was on the brink of collapse during the 2008-2009 nancial crisis, recently saw a
galvanizing return to growth. But this return to form was not just nancial. Twelve companies from the automotive industry
ranked among the Global RepTrak 100. BMW stood out as a shining example for its peers. It earned the highest level of
Trust, Esteem, Admiration, and Good Feeling in the industry and was ranked fourth globally in the 2011 RepTrak Pulse. Its
German competitors, Daimler and Volkswagen, shared similar success.
Despite more than 10 million product recalls in the past few years, even Japanese automaker Toyota emerged from the crisis
more robust than expected; its RepTrak Pulse score was above 70, a testament to the enduring strength of its corporate brand.
With stakeholder bonds rekindled and trust revived, automakers are seeing spectacular returns. Vehicle sales in emerging
markets are healthy as ever, but its in developed markets, particularly in the U.S., that the industry is truly making a comeback.
U.S. auto rms are hiring more workers, manufacturers are returning to protability, and exports of U.S. vehicles are again on the
rise. After years of stagnation, U.S. automakers are now designing and producing some of the most technologically advanced
and innovative vehicles in the world.
Moreover, some U.S. auto rms are ling for IPOs to tap the stock market and raise capital to expand operations. Delphi
Automotive Plc, for example, the former units subsidiary of General Motors (GM), registered for an initial public offering in
May 2011signaling a renewed demand for automotive stocks. Reputations of other U.S. auto companies have followed suit.
Goodyear (75.09) and General Motors (67.40), both U.S. rms, ranked among the Global RepTrak 100 for 2011. Once at the
brink of failure, U.S. automakers have been revitalized. The industry is back.
In Conclusion: Navigating the
Reputation Economy
The world is an ever-changing place, and to compete
successfully, companies have to be aware of these changes
and how to respond to them. Establishing and maintaining
a reputation that places a rm among the best in the world
goes a long way toward accomplishing this goal.
The Global RepTrak 100 study demonstrates that
reputation affects the bottom line: It drives support, which
drives market share, which drives prot. In todays global
village, the companies that gure out how to export their
home emotional appeal will win market share. To do this,
they must always remember that they dont own their
reputationstheir stakeholders do. Senior managers
should heed the call if they are to build winning strategies
in this brave new world.
Welcome to the Reputation Economy.
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
RepTrak
TM
Pulse 2011
79.42
79.03
77.33
73.99
71.26
71.11
71.04
68.19
67.40
Company
BMW
Daimler
Volkswagen
Honda Motor
Toyota
Nissan Motor
Suzuki Motor
Hyundai
General Motors
Global Reputations in the Automotive Industry
www.ReputationInstitute.com
13
2011 Reputation Institute, All Rights Reserved.
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REPUTATION
INSTITUTE
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2011 Reputation Institute
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