Bord Bia has been named the most reputable organisation in Ireland in the latest annual RepTrak study, announced by PR firm, The Reputations Agency. Next in line are Eason & Son, An Post, Google and Lidl. It is the seventh year of the corporate reputations study in Ireland. The study was compiled by The Reputations Agency (TRA), the PR firm run by Niamh Boyle.
The DDFH&B Group agency and their global partners, the Reputation Institute, ranks the 100 largest and most visible organisations in Ireland based on 5,093 responses from the general public from January to March 2016. In-depth reports and analysis on the reputation of each of the 100 organisations included in the study are available on request.
Winners:
The top 10 companies in the Ireland RepTrak 2016 study are:
| 1. Bord Bia | 6. Irish League of Credit Unions |
| 2. Eason & Son | 7. Aldi |
| 3. An Post | 8. BMW |
| 4. Google | 9. Ford |
| 5. Lidl | 10. Boots |
This year’s report shows that organisations operating in food related sectors were among those with the top reputations, with eight ranked in the top 20 – Bord Bia, Lidl, Aldi, SuperValu, Kellogg, Glanbia, Cadbury and Kerry Group. Among Ireland’s sporting bodies, the IRFU was ranked 23rd, the GAA 49th and the FAI 95th.
Irish Water has by far the worst reputation, scoring just 14.3 points out of a maximum 100.
The independent study ranks companies on the RepTrak® Pulse score, with four emotional indicators: trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling. It also studied how organisations were rated across the seven more rational dimensions of reputation – leadership, products & services, innovation, governance, workplace, performance and citizenship.
Sectoral findings:
- The food-manufacturing sector remains the most trusted industry in Ireland this year, with retail-general in second place. Computer/technology sector stays third position despite a dip in score caused by Apple, Dell, and IBM.
- The car industry’s score fell from 72.1 to 68.5, primarily due to Volkswagen’s double digit decline, but remains in fourth position.
- The public sector’s score is down from 69.3 to 64.8.
- The pharmaceuticals sector switched places with information and media to become the sixth and seventh most trusted industries.
- The energy sector saw significantly improved scores from ESB and Bord Gáis, and a strong score from new entrant Applegreen, moving ahead of retail-food, beverage, financial-insurance, and transport and logistics to take eight place.
- Drinks dipped slightly, with decreased scores for Diageo and Pepsico.
- Finances/insurance maintained last year’s score, but slipped from 11th to 12th place.
- Services again takes 13th place.
- Telecommunications only improved slightly and remained second last.
- The financial-bank sector is still the least trusted. Despite efforts to improve delivery on stakeholder expectations, distrust lingers after the banking crisis. Although employment, consumer confidence and consumer spending continue to rise, the recent election shows not everyone feels a recovery.
- KBC Bank Ireland has been recognised for the fifth year running as having the best reputation of any retail bank
Analysis shows that companies investing in building their reputation are winning competitive advantage. Ryanair’s continued focus on customer experience with its ‘Always Getting Better’ programme, now in its third year, has seen it rise from 99th place in 2013 to 63rd position this year. Over that period, its share price almost tripled.
Pictured above are Aidan Cotter, CEO, Bord Bia and Niamh Boyle, TRA
