For the fourth year in a row, Danish toy company Lego has topped the list of the world’s most well-reputed companies. The Reputation Institute, a company which monitors consumer perceptions and media slant in the business world, published their annual survey on the matter on March 3, 2020. Lego has been in the top 10 of their list every year since they began publishing in 2011.
The survey asks people about their perceptions of a company. Not just the company’s product, but also its workings, including leadership, innovation, transparency, and its integration with society. Lego’s moves into education and its commitment to shifting to recycled plastics in the near future have bumped its reputation numbers since 2015, keeping them at the top.
Close behind Lego in score is Disney. Consumers like the media giant’s commitment to funding higher education for company employees, and its long track record of technological innovation.
Also in 2019’s top ten, in order, are Rolex, Ferrari, Microsoft, Levi Strauss, Netflix, Adidas, Bosch, and Intel. Notably missing this year are Apple, which used to get high marks for innovation, and Google, which topped the list in 2011 and has been featured in the top 10 every year until 2018. Google’s downslide began when the public began to doubt its transparency, and its firing of four activist employees cemented that loss of consumer trust.
Almost all the companies left in the top ten list this year are venerable institutions. Lego and Adidas were both founded in 1949, Disney in 1923, Rolex in 1905, and Levi Strauss & Co. all the way back in 1853. But newcomer Netflix’s inclusion shows that trust can be built up very quickly. The streaming service has earned its place on the list through consistent quality, both of its actual service, and of its growing library of content.
“[All the frontrunners are] doing the best in matters of innovation and being able to adapt year over year (and) expand their product offerings,” says Isadora Levy, the Reputation Institute’s director of marketing insights.
Photo: The Lego factory in Billund, Denmark. Credit: Lena Ivanova / Shutterstock.com
