Poll Provides Valuable Clues for Enhancing Corporate Reputation and Protecting Shareholder Value
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The 2025 edition of the Axios and Harris Poll 100 reputation rankings were just released, and the results provide important guidance for communicators seeking to safeguard the brands they’ve been chosen to steward.
Most notable among the survey’s findings:
The five companies that have lost the most ground since the survey began in 2019 have all been involved in negative or polarizing news events over the past few years – Tesla, Boeing, SpaceX, Walt Disney and UnitedHealth.
It was a tough year for Elon Musk, whose Tesla Motors (#95) saw the steepest drop-off – 32 spots – with a composite score of 61.3%, joining his X (#98) social media platform among the bottom 10 of brands studied, with SpaceX (#86) not much better off.
Spirit Airlines, often the butt of jokes from late-night hosts and other casual observers, finished dead last in this year’s rankings, dropping two spots from last year’s survey to fall below Musk’s X and The Trump Organization.
Brands that fared well in this year’s survey include value-oriented retailers like Trader Joe’s (#1), which climbed 12 spots, and Lowe’s (#23), which had the biggest improvement by jumping 18 spots.
The study doesn’t provide any insights on why brands were rated a certain way by the more than 16,000 U.S. adults who were surveyed. But I have a few theories that might be useful guidance for professional communicators tasked with managing the reputation of any organization’s most valuable asset: its brand.
The best defense is a good offense. Organizations that are prone to being scrutinized because they’re different need to double down on positive storytelling to counter false narratives. Instead of allowing itself to be lampooned as a cut-rate, unreliable airline, Spirit should tout its safety record and on-time performance while showcasing the millions of dollars it’s helped the traveling public save.
Politics makes for strange bedfellows . . . and flagging reputational scores. It’s no coincidence that many of the brands that took a hit in this survey got caught up in the political news cycle that so many Americans – red, blue and purple – say they’re tired of hearing about. Companies in highly regulated industries may not be able to avoid getting swept into such conversations, but other companies might think twice before wading into choppy waters in such turbulent times.
Connect with customers’ core concerns. If I asked the leaders of Trader Joe’s what it is they provide their customers, my guess is they wouldn’t answer “groceries”; they’d say they provide value. Understand the emotional needs of your audience, look for ways to respond to those needs, then don’t be shy about signaling how you deliver on what’s really important.
Make regular deposits in your brand’s bank of goodwill. Most organizations inevitably go through a rough patch that can sour consumer perceptions, whether by accident, misguided actions or external circumstances. The brands that weather these storms are those that have built enough equity among their key stakeholders to earn the benefit of the doubt when times get tough. Support causes and take actions that fit your brand and resonate with your target audiences. But like any good sailor, pay attention to shifting winds so you can make any needed adjustments to stay on course.
If you need help devising strategies to manage your brand’s reputation, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to me at barry@startwithtruth.com.