Watch Out for Popularity

The Harris Poll has come out with its 2015 Reputation Quotient (RQ) and the result suggests, at least in the tech industry, people should be careful interpreting the results. Actually, the No. 1 company on the list is a serious warning. The top pick, Wegmans Food Markets, is a popular and fast growing grocery, but it only has stores in the Northeast US. Amazon, either a retailer or a tech company depending on how you look at it, was second.

Things get really weird with Samsung as No. 3. Now, by any reasonable standard, Samsung is coming off a rotten year. Its U.S. phone business went from a comfortable first to a shaky tie with Apple and the TV market is going nowhere. Maybe it was the kitchen appliances?

Meanwhile, Apple came in at number nine, down five places since 2012. The data was collected in October through December, so I suppose its possible the would-be Apple voters were off buying iPhones instead–its sales during the period were all-time record breakers. Samsung rose 10 points since 2012.

Google finished 10th and suffering Sony came in two places ahead of Microsoft. Intel was 20th, LG 23rd, and IBM and Hewlett-Packard tight at 39 and 40. The full list of 100 companies and their scores follows:

	2015 RQ RANK	RQ Score
1	Wegmans Food Markets*	84.36
2	Amazon.com	83.72
3	Samsung	81.98
4	Costco	81.69
5	Johnson & Johnson	80.88
6	Kraft Foods	80.83
7	L.L. Bean*	80.78
8	Publix Supermarkets*	80.73
9	Apple	80.69
10	Google	80.44
11	Berkshire Hathaway*	80.28
12	The Walt Disney Company	80.04
13	Sony	79.93
14	CVS (CVS Health)*	79.83
15	Microsoft	79.74
16	Lowe’s	79.48
17	Kellogg Company*	79.25
18	Chick-fil-A	78.96
19	The Boeing Company*	78.93
20	Intel Corporation*	78.54
21	Whole Foods Market	78.47
22	USAA	78.22
23	LG Corporation*	78.20
24	Procter & Gamble Co.	78.08
25	Nike	77.88
26	Unilever*	77.80
27	Whirlpool Corporation*	77.54
28	General Mills*	76.88
29	Honda Motor Company	76.80
30	Nestle*	76.45
31	Starbucks Corporation	76.32
32	The Kroger Company*	76.29
33	Wendy’s*	75.94
34	The Coca-Cola Company	75.89
35	Fidelity Investments*	75.69
36	PepsiCo	75.59
37	FedEx Corporation*	75.53
38	The Home Depot	75.38
39	Meijer’s*	75.37
40	IBM	75.32
41	Hewlett-Packard Company	75.26
42	Kohl’s	75.17
43	eBay*	75.14
44	Aldi*	74.78
45	General Electric	74.77
46	Southwest Airlines	74.76
47	Nordstrom	74.46
48	Ford Motor Company	74.32
49	Toyota Motor Corporation	74.01
50	Progressive Corporation*	73.79
51	State Farm Insurance*	73.61
52	Macy’s	73.16
53	DuPont*	73.09
54	Walgreens*	72.80
55	American Express*	72.63
56	YUM! Brands*	72.60
57	Nissan Motor Corporation*	72.60
58	Hobby Lobby*	72.51
59	Best Buy	72.28
60	Dell	72.13
61	JCPenney	71.61
62	The Allstate Corporation	71.03
63	Target	70.99
64	Hyundai Motor Company	70.97
65	21st Century Fox*	70.14
66	Verizon Communications	69.74
67	Safeway*	69.70
68	Blue Cross Blue Shield*	69.50
69	United States Postal Service*	69.49
70	Royal Dutch Shell	68.92
71	McDonald’s	67.77
72	Sprint Corporation	67.66
73	Altria Group*	67.65
74	Wells Fargo & Company	67.55
75	T-Mobile	67.54
76	AT&T	67.26
77	Facebook	67.17
78	Chevron*	67.09
79	Delta Air Lines*	66.52
80	Burger King*	66.23
81	Chrysler Corporation	65.76
82	ExxonMobil	65.43
83	DirecTV*	65.27
84	Walmart	65.05
85	Time Warner	64.93
86	United Airlines*	64.91
87	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	63.98
88	General Motors	63.89
89	Citigroup	62.19
90	BP	62.01
91	Bank of America	60.73
92	Charter Communications*	60.30
93	Comcast	60.04
94	Koch Industries*	59.89
95	Sears Holdings Corporation	59.79
96	Halliburton	59.63
97	Monsanto	59.18
98	Dish Network	58.07
99	AIG	55.23
100	Goldman Sachs	55.07

* New to Most Visible List this year (not in 60 Most Visible 2014)

Guide to RQ Scores:

80 & above: Excellent

75-79: Very Good

70-74: Good

65-69: Fair

55-64: Poor

50-54: Very Poor

Below 50: Critical

2 thoughts on “Watch Out for Popularity”

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Watch Out for Popularity

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Steve Wildstrom

2 thoughts on “Watch Out for Popularity”

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