The top 10 innovator companies may be winning minds with their market-leading products but they are failing to win hearts with a lack of trust and scepticism about customer focus dragging down the brands, according to new research from The MISSION Group. Brands can’t rely on innovation alone to win the battle for customers and these areas of weakness are a critical area of reputational risk.
Apple, Etsy, IKEA, Lush, Intel, Microsoft, Samsung, Google, Netflix and Hive rank highest for innovation, according to MISSION Group’s new proprietary tool, the MISSION Brand Bonding Index (MBBI) which includes a YouGov survey of 3,000 respondents*. But fewer than a quarter of respondents believe these brands are trustworthy and fewer than a third think the companies are customer-focused.
Findings include:
- Only 14% of respondents think Netflix is trustworthy, and only 32% think it is customer-focused. Only 34% think the output is very good quality.
- Samsung is trusted by 23% while only 18% think the brand is customer-focused
- Intel fares badly with 17% on trustworthiness and only 6% saying it is customer-focussed.
- 18% believe Microsoft is customer-focused and only 19% say it is trustworthy.
- Hive is trusted by only 6% of respondents and only 9% believe the brand is customer focused
James Clifton, Group Chief Executive of The MISSION Group plc, commented:
“Global leaders in innovation have won the minds of consumers worldwide and there’s no shortage of appetite for their products – many have a near monopoly. But on the downside there is a notable lack of trust towards many of them and scepticism about their customer focus, with dissatisfaction affecting their brand reputation.”
“If they’re to maintain their leading positions they will need to address these areas of weakness and win back the hearts of consumers – particularly in these challenging times where disposable income is falling at a record rate and consumers are forced to be particular with where they spend cash. These issues can be a leading indicator of damage to buying behaviour and can’t be ignored. While some of these brands are taking steps to address these issues, there’s clearly more to do.”
The MBBI is a bi-annual index which currently covers 120 brands, from global corporates to UK household brands. The index includes 39,600 data points, as well as 12 source categories, working with BrandWatch and YouGov.
MISSION launched the MBBI to give companies immediate bespoke insight into their real brand power and actionable intelligence on comparison with competitors. Brands can track their strengths and weaknesses with comprehensive analytics, to measure impact and accurately target areas of challenge and opportunity. The index measures a broad range of categories, including awareness, dependency, ESG, preference and purpose, utilising the most comprehensive data set of any brand index available and a bespoke algorithm.
The MBBI covers a broad range of sectors including: DIY, Fashion, Grocery, Home, Online, Online Retail, Retail, Technology and Utilities. The MBBI is available at: mbbi.themission.co.uk
