Google Shines Amid the Tarnished

Not only has the stock market lost ground since last fall, but so has the reputation of Corporate America in the eyes of consumers. Seven out of 11 industries saw their reputation decline last year from 2006 and 16 of the companies with the worst marks fell even further, according to the Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient (RQ) survey.

The top 10 companies in order of rank, according to this year's two-step poll, are:
 

1. Google
2. Johnson & Johnson
3. Intel 
4. General Mills
5. Kraft Foods
6. Berkshire-Hathaway
7. 3M
8. Coca-Cola
9. Honda
10. Microsoft

What does it take to get to the top? Google provides a case in point.

Four years ago, the company was not included among the top 60 most visible companies on the list. But this year, Google rose to No. 1, beating last year's RQ reputation leader, Microsoft.

Google also beat this year's second-runner-up, Johnson & Johnson, which was the top ranked company, until last year, since the inception of the survey in 1999.

"What the RQ survey has shown in recent years is that companies that pay attention to enhancing their reputation see bottom line results. The companies with a good reputation have stayed near the top of the list and those with bad reputations have gotten worse," says Robert Fronk at Harris Interactive. "The survey also provides a roadmap for what areas linked to corporate reputation have the most impact on consumers."

Harris selected the 60 companies in July and August by asking 7,105 Americans to name two corporations that stood out ifor having very positive or very negative reputations. In February and March, pollsters then asked 20,477 respondents to rate the 60 companies on 20 attributes, including emotional appeal, the quality of their products, and social responsibility.

Ken Powell, chairman and CEO of General Mills, notes, "Reputation can be measured in recognition, employee recruitment and retention, even stock price multiple. But in the end, we believe the most important measure is trust. General Mills values its reputation tremendously, and we constantly strive to remain worthy of the trust of our customers, consumers, employees, investors and communities."