Coke, Pepsi top for brand respect

Warc, 26 August 2013

NEW YORK: Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are tied as the most respected US brands, according to a new survey of 100 major companies from CoreBrand, the consultancy.

Prominent names, such as Delta Air Lines and the Foot Locker chain, also emerged as among the least respected in the eyes of consumers, the study showed.

Of the more than 1,000 companies CoreBrand tracks across 54 industries, its survey focussed on the 100 brands that had the highest familiarity and then measured them for their favourability, in order to gauge overall perceptions about the brand.

Well-known brands that scored poorly for favourability were then considered the 'least respected', although CoreBrand noted that several of the less respected companies, including Delta, were improving their performance.

CoreBrand CEO James Gregory said those companies ranked at the top of the list were building respect "with a strong reputation and sense of trust".

But he also observed that many of the less-respected companies were "on the rise", suggesting that marketing investments were starting to deliver a return on investment.

Gregory said: "The ten brands with the largest discrepancies between familiarity and favourability – all well-known brands – are all in a position with the right investments to improve perceptions to positively impact trust and business outcomes."

Joining Coca-Cola and PepsiCo among the top ten most respected brands were Hershey's, Harley-Davidson, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg's, Campbell's Soup, Colgate-Palmolive and Estee Lauder.

The least respected brands were ranked in descending order as Delta, Philip Morris, H&R Block, Denny's, Big Lots, Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Capital One, Rite Aid and Foot Locker.

Data sourced from PR Newswire, ajc.com; additional content by Warc staff