â–¶ In Recession, Protect Your Reputation: The Reputation Institute (RI) has released the results of its 2009 U.S. Reputation Pulse study, which ranks 153 companies in the categories of products/services, innovation, governance, workplace, citizenship, leadership and performance.
According to Kasper Nielsen, manager partner at the Reputation Institute, corporate reputation becomes paramount during tough economic times. Among the study’s findings:
• Of the 153 largest companies in the U.S., Americans have the strongest amount of trust, admiration, respect and good feeling for Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods, UPS, General Mills and FedEx;
• If a company can improve its reputation by 5 Reputation Pulse points, it can increase recommendations of their company within the general public by 6.5%;
• In 2009, insurance giant AIG lost 27.52 points, the largest year-over-year drop of any one company, followed by Goldman Sachs (-17) and Morgan Stanley (-13);
• 75% of companies measured in both 2008 and 2009 saw changes of no more than 5 Reputation Pulse points; and,
• U.S. consumers feel the most respected and reputable industries are consumer products, transportation and logistics, industrial products, computers and food manufacturing.
Source: Reputation Institute
â–¶ Green Products Reign in a Poor Economy: In this turbulent economic climate, environmentally friendly products may have the best prospects for success. The 2009 Cone Consumer Environmental Study indicates that despite the recession, only 8% of Americans consider themselves any less likely to invest in environmentally responsible products, while 34% say they are more likely to buy such products and 44% report that they are no more or less inclined to do so.
The study, conducted by Cone Inc., also found that:
• 35% of Americans have more interest in the environment today than they did one year ago;
• 35% of Americans have higher expectations of companies to make and sell environmentally responsible products and services during the economic downturn;
• 70% of Americans claim that they are paying attention to what companies are doing with regard to the environment, even if they cannot currently invest in their products;
• 63% of Americans trust companies to tell them the truth in their environmental messaging; and,
• 85% believe companies should communicate their environmental commitments year-round.
Source: Cone Inc.
â–¶ Online on the Incline, Still:
A new report released by The Nielsen Co. Online indicates that video and social networking sites are driving Web content to new heights. In turn, Internet advertising continues to become more important for traditionally heavy ad-spending industries such as healthcare, telecommunications and consumer products. The report also showed:
• The number of American users frequenting online video destinations has climbed 339% since 2003;
• In the past year, unique viewers of online video grew 10%, the number of streams were up 41%, streams viewed per user grew 27% and total minutes engaged with online video increased 71%;
• Led by social media, search and video, the Internet’s share of total ad spending will continue its steady upward trend as global economies emerge from the current recession;
• In the age of Twitter, feedback barriers have all but disappeared, creating a near friction-free environment for playing back brand experience, campaign reactions or brand events; and,
• 30% of U.S. mobile subscribers recalled seeing some form of advertising while using their mobile phones, up from 18% one year prior.
Source: The Nielsen Company Online
â–¶ Trust in Media a Mixed Bag: Good news for Internet content producers: A recent TNS study reveals that people trust information they get from online news sources roughly to the same degree as information from friends. Among the findings:
• 42% of global respondents said they trust word-of-mouth recommendations;
• 40% trust online news; and,
• Blogs were rated as the least trusted source in almost every country. PRN
Source: TNS