Women's Hockey League Claims Top Spot; Inflation Worsens Public Perception of Companies
TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Harris Poll, a Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) agency, today released the findings of the first-ever Canadian edition of its highly regarded Corporate Reputation Quotient® (RQ®) study as part of its official launch in Canada. The Harris Poll Canada 50 in partnership with Canadian Business is based on over 5,500 interviews, offering a comprehensive ranking of how the "most visible" companies in Canada are perceived by the public across key metrics including trust, ethics, vision, and products.
While this is the first year the study has run in Canada, it has been running in the U.S. for 25 years. The Harris Poll RQ® Study is a trusted ranking of the reputation of the companies most on the minds of Canadians using a framework Harris has used since 1999. The survey's Reputation Quotient (RQ) ranking is based on companies that are most visible to the general population and on their performance in seven key areas: Trust, Vision, Growth, Products & Services, Culture, Ethics, and Citizenship. The U.S. ranking is published annually as The Axios-Harris Poll 100.
Key takeaways from the inaugural ranking launched in partnership between The Harris Poll and Canadian Business include:
- Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) Dominates: PWHL clinched the top spot becoming the most trusted and reputable organization in Canada. Its success, coupled with record ticket sales and high viewership, positioned the PWHL above traditional powerhouses like the NHL, which placed 35th.
- Inflation Hurts Corporate Reputation: Canadians, weary of the rising cost of living, have increasingly turned their frustration toward businesses. Companies in sectors heavily reliant on pricing transparency - such as grocery (Loblaws), airlines (WestJet), and telecoms (Bell) - see their reputations suffering.
- Canadian Companies Excel on Character, Struggle with Growth: With nearly identical levels of trade between U.S. and Canada, Canadian consumers know brands on both sides of the border. While local companies outperform on "Character" attributes such as ethics, culture, and citizenship, they lag commercially in measures of growth, innovation and product/service quality. Iconic Canadian brands like WestJet (38th), Bell (41st), and Air Canada (44th) failed to impress on Trajectory dimensions such as Vision, while only four Canadian-based companies cracked the top 10: PWHL (1st), Canadian Tire (5th), Manulife (8th), and Sun Life (9th).
- Banking Trust Remains High: Unlike American banks, Canadian banks enjoy strong public confidence. All of Canada's "Big Five" banks ranked within the top 25, with Scotiabank leading at 13th. In contrast, U.S. banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America placed much lower in the American edition of the study, Axios Harris Poll 100, highlighting a significant cross-border difference in banking trust.
"The Harris Poll and RQ study's expansion into Canada is a game-changer for businesses that want to truly grasp what drives consumers on both sides of the border," said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO of Stagwell. "With the U.S. and Canadian economies so interwoven, digging into how the same brands are perceived in each country can expose the contrasts and overlaps in what really motivates consumers. These insights aren't just valuable—they're essential for any business serious about cutting through the noise, adapting to market nuances, and capitalizing on shared values for real impact."
"This inaugural ranking of Canada's top companies by reputation found that Canadian companies tend to outperform American brands, but being Canadian is not a free ride to a higher score," said John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll. "Four of the top ten companies are Canadian, but also five of the bottom ten are Canadian. Canadians tend to view domestic companies positively on elements like ethics and values. However, Canadian companies are not often seen as true leaders, and tend to underperform on elements such as innovation, quality, and vision."
These results and more will be discussed at Stagwell Canada's office opening today in Toronto. Click here to view the full ranking and more information on the companies surveyed.
"We are so proud to be officially launching Harris Poll in Canada with our inaugural RQ Top 50 ranking in partnership with Canadian Business Magazine because it demonstrates the importance of providing local insights and perspective, but with the North American and global context that Canadian business leaders have come to expect," says Sara Cappe, President, Harris Poll Canada.
Methodology:
The Harris Poll surveyed a total of 5,507 Canadians from a nationally representative online sample from August 2 to 17, 2024 to measure their perception of corporate reputation in Canada. First, respondents are asked which two companies — in their opinion — stand out as having the best reputation today and which two have the worst. All nominations are compiled into an aggregate list to determine the "most visible" companies. (Subsidiaries and brands are tallied within the parent company to create a total number of nominations for each company.) Then, once we have a list of the 50 most-visible companies in Canada, we fielded a second online survey to determine the company's reputation. Respondents were first asked which of the companies they are familiar with. From there, respondents were asked to rate two of the 50 most visible companies that they say they are "very familiar or somewhat with" on nine dimensions of reputation to calculate a Reputational Quotient, or RQ®, score for each. The RQ® score determines the ranking of each brand in Canadian Business-Harris Poll 50.
About The Harris Poll:
The Harris Poll is one of the longest-running surveys in the U.S., tracking public opinion, motivations and social sentiment since 1963. It is now part of Harris Insights & Analytics, a leading consulting and market research firm that delivers social intelligence for transformational times and Canada is its first office expansion outside of the US. We work with clients in three primary areas: building 21st century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. Our mission is to provide insights and advisory to help leaders make the best decisions possible. Learn more by visiting www.harrispoll.com and follow Harris Poll on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Stagwell:
Stagwell is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world's most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 10,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
Contacts:
The Harris Poll
Sara Cappe
Sara.cappe@harrispoll.com
Stagwell
Kara Gelber
Kara.gelber@stagwellglobal.com
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