The nation’s two largest supermarket brands have been named the most trusted brands in the country in early 2021.
According to Roy Morgan’s latest ‘Risk Report’, Woolworths came out on top, with Coles in second place. This was followed by Bunnings Warehouse in third and ALDI in fourth.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the essential nature of these businesses has kept them front and centre for Australians prevented from engaging in many activities deemed ‘non-essential’.
“Woolworths and Coles have both moved up the trust league ladder during the Covid period with their supply of food and drink (and toilet paper) keeping the economy moving, and households well-stocked, during several lockdowns which forced the closure of other retailers for sometimes months on end,” she says.
“Bunnings Warehouse and ALDI have maintained their high standings in third and fourth with Bunnings remaining open throughout lockdown as an essential business supplying goods and materials to Australia’s tradesmen and building industries. Big box retailer Kmart has also performed well increasing three spots from pre-pandemic to sixth overall.”
Roy Morgan notes that several other businesses have excelled during Covid-19. These include Qantas (fifth place), Apple (seventh place), and Toyota (eighth place).
Distrusted brands
The Roy Morgan ‘Risk Report’ also reveals the top-20 list of Australia’s most distrusted brands.
Several brands have entered the top 10 for the first time, including Amazon, Rio Tinto and Huawei. Brands such as Crown Resorts, Uber, Twitter and TikTok are new entrants in the top-20 list.
Leading banks including NAB, ANZ and CBA were among the big improvers on the distrust ladder, says Roy Morgan, with all three dropping well out of the top-10 most distrusted brands.
“In the current environment of contested ‘narratives’ trust is a key brand asset while distrust is a brand liability,” says Ms Levine.
“Distrust remains the number one risk factor for the nation’s companies because it is the toxic element in brand equity.
“A look at the new brands to enter the top 20 most distrusted brands list reveals a litany of missteps and controversies over the last year including Rio Tinto’s destruction of the 46,000-year-old Juukan indigenous heritage site, concerns about Chinese government influence for Huawei and Tiktok and legal and licensing problems for Crown Resorts related to the facilitation of large-scale money laundering.
“It’s clear that distrust should be on the risk register of every publicly listed company in Australia. Why isn’t it? Because until Roy Morgan’s data scientists identified the toxic nature of distrust, no-one was measuring it.
“After more than 30 waves of research, Roy Morgan continues to measure and track distrust as well as trust, publishing key results in the Roy Morgan ‘Risk Report’ providing essential risk metrics to corporate leaders who understand the dangers to brand equity that distrust represents.”