No matter how big the business or how deep its pockets, corporations still live or die at the hands of consumers. If the products and services are delivered with attention to
individual consumption habits, chances are the reputation will remain sturdy. This week's installment of Corporate Reputation Gauge, provided by research from the Delahaye
Corporate Index, reaffirms this point, highlighting companies that run the gamut from the very good customer relations to the very, very bad.
The data, taken from April 2004 to June 2005, shows three technology companies in three different quadrants: Hewlett-Packard finds itself in the coveted high
visibility/high favorability space thanks in part to the research of its iPod clone, the hPod, which received a lot of media coverage (the product has since gone off the market).
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Microsoft, which usually ranks very highly, lands in the high visibility/low favorability trench due to its alleged lack of consumer
friendliness; much of the negativity in terms of consumer relations derives from big virus scares that are often linked to Microsoft's new product releases. Cisco hits the
high favorability/low visibility quadrant because its lack of public branding makes it relatively unknown to the mass marketplace.
In other highly visible and highly favorable news, the Walt Disney Company lands in good light thanks to its very consumer friendly products. SBC, (known as
AT&T since its recent acquisition of the telecomm brand), also ranked well despite the troubles its now-namesake company experienced during the April 2004-June 2005
timeframe.*
Merck and Altria languish in the high visibility/low favorability category due to their relationships with the mad cow disease scare and cigarette-related
litigation, respectively (Altria is the parent company of tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris). Finally, MassMutual and SYSCO (a bulk-foods distributor) are
in the lower left-hand quadrant, putting them in good position to elevate their favorable news coverage with greater visibility in the media.
*This data was taken before SBC purchased AT&T and took on the company's moniker.