by: Gretchen Reed

Market research firm Millward Brown recently published its “Most Trusted Brands” list and there were a couple of surprises.

As reported in Brandweek, though consumer packaged goods dominated the survey, two service brands – Amazon.com and FedEx, topped the list, which is based on a “TrustR” (trust/recommendation) score compiled from polls conducted by Millward Brown in the U.S. and globally.

The top ten brands listed were:

1. Amazon.com
2. FedEx
3. Downy
4. Huggies
5. Tide
6. Tylenol
7. Toyota
8. WebMD
9. Pampers
10. UPS

Surprised to see Toyota on the list? Well, data for the study was collected in 2009, prior to the disclosure of Toyota’s recalls, which could account for the brand’s standing.

But notice the number 6 brand – Tylenol. Here is a brand that has been plagued by multiple recalls and PR crises, but has weathered the storm. As Eileen Campbell, global CEO of Millward Brown noted, “Doing well in a crisis actually builds trust.”

Maybe Toyota can learn from Tylenol’s example, although the recent ads I’ve seen lead me to believe that they just hope the crisis has magically disappeared – or that a rebate or discount can erase the damage done.

It should be interested to see who does – and doesn’t – make next year’s list.

Tags: Branding, Crisis Communications

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 11:09 am by Gretchen Reed and is filed under Branding, Corporate communications, Crisis Communications, News & Thinking, trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.