I love lists like this. Here are the top ten brands of 2009 according to Millward Brown, a leading market research firm.
Millward Brown uses an index based upon trust and recommendation to build its list.
Find anything to quarrel with here?
Who hasn’t bought a book on Amazon … then another … then another? Have you ever NOT gotten what you ordered?
OK Toyota … but they note the research was done in 2009, pre-meltdown. But wait, can Toyota’s problem be any worse than Tylenol? Both were immensely strong brands before controversy hit … Toyota will be back, like Tylenol … think American Red Cross.
And diapers! Who could be more trusted than the folks who cover your baby’s butt!!? Come on! Two of the top ten spots. And while we’re thinking soft as a baby’s butt, there’s Downy taking a third spot. Got a better set of tactile brands?
Then there are the folks who reinforce their dependability every time you call upon them — FedEx and UPS. Nothing but customer satisfaction. It must be boring as hell to wait for customer complaint calls at the call centers of these outfits!
That leaves Tide, with a million years and probably billions of dollars of advertising behind it …
And WebMD, which I confess is a mystery to me. Can anyone help me on that one?
While you’re at it, how about your list of top ten nonprofit brands?
How would you choose?
Is Amnesty International more "trustworthy" than the ACLU or UNICEF? Does any of these provide more "customer satisfaction"? What donor "experience" could a nonprofit provide that would cause you to refer or recommend it? Isn’t awareness a rather significant precondition? Are any of your top ten less than twenty years old?
Ok, you’ve jotted down your own personal list. Now share it with your fellow Agitator readers!
Tom
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Lists like remind us gullable we all are, anyone think the US World report on top colleges is full of crap? Let ne suggest to publish such alust requires the author to be Trusted. Why should I trust this author? Why should I believe any position they have on this legit? what do they have to gain by being associated with this? Since their not on the top trust list I guess I’ll pass on taking their opinion to the bank. And all for profits?
FYI, WebMD is a website where people can get medical information, etc.
Ten top brands in no order
Kleenex
Kellogg’s
Honda
Apple
Brooks Brothers
NBC
LL Bean
Google
NY Yankees
I think about this a lot – I don’t think you all would get much from my list though, since they are all local (where we give). The ones that get my vote tell a great story about the impact my gift will make, and send immediate acknowledgement of a gift. In fact, I gave a couple extra bucks with my kids’ registration for a summer ed workshop and got a handwritten note that even referred to my kids’ involvement in previous years. Very impressive. Honestly when I read statistics about how 70% of charities don’t thank people for smaller gifts I wonder if the results would be radically different if they looked at the smaller local charities. Connection breeds trust.
My top ten non-profit brands
Special Olympics
American Cancer Society
March of Dimes
American Red Cross
Unicef
Habitat for Humanity
St. Judes
American Heart Association
American Lung Association
Muscular Distrophy Association
Next to porn, health is the most prevalent item on the web, with zillions of items, most of which are not very trustworthy. WebMD is the most important, authoritative source of solid medical information that one can get on the Internet. In other words, you can trust what’s there. jim
WebMD is my trusted “second opinion” when dealing with my mother’s health. If her doctor prescribes something or if there is a question about her health issues, I go there and share the information with my family. It emerged among several competing health sites as delivering the best and clearest information.
I’m highly cynical when it comes to nonprofits! Here is an attempt to come up with ten.
Student Conservation Association (client)
Medicins sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Borders
Union of Concerned Scientists (former employer)
National Parks Conservation Association
Earth Share
Sierra Club
National Parks Foundation
Boys & Girls Club (on local board)
Girl Scouts (and not their homophobic parallel!)
American Cancer Society
I am very surprised that Apple is not on this list.
When someone asks, “how trustworthy is this brand?” and “would you recommend this brand?” – I would have thought that the brands that scored the highest are the ones that have a higher ratio of rabid supports/fanatics (not in a derogatory sense mind you) to indifferent/negative users.
Partners in Health
American Cancer Society
Farm Aid
Sierra Club
Girl Scouts
Special Olympics
Habitat for Humanity
Oxfam
American Heart Association
Humane Society