Business

These are the most reliable brands in the world

Staff Writer

 ·22 Apr 2016

Communications firm Cohn & Wolfe has released its 2016 list of the world’s 100 most authentic brands, showing which companies have earned the most respect among consumers.

According to the group, authenticity represents reliability, respectability and the ‘realness’ of a brand – providing quality, delivering on promises and acting with integrity.

To determine the top 100, C&W surveyed 12,000 consumers in 14 markets on more than 1,600 brands, from major markets across the world.

Overall, the comms firm found that more than three quarters of all respondents said that companies across the world had a credibility problem, and showed a general cynicism towards companies.

This was largely driven by privacy concerns – highlighting high-profile data leaks that happened with companies like Apple, and its recent stand-off with the FBI.

“The rules of communication have irrevocably changed, and we’re seeing consumers reward brands that understand how to engage with them openly and honestly. In fact, consumers will forgive the occasional corporate misstep if a company is upfront, and addresses the issue head-on,” said Donna Imperato, CEO, Cohn & Wolfe.

“The brands topping the Authentic 100 understand this, and have demonstrated consistently that they value more than just their bottom lines by fostering a genuine dialogue with their customers.”

Disney was ranked as the world’s most authentic brand, followed by BMW, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple.

These are the top 20 most ‘authentic’ brands in the world:

The full list can be found here.

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