Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the age of volatility! Our 2018 Reputation Study shows once again that public opinion, in the age of social media, is a punisher. One day you may be the darling child everybody wants to be, and the next day … it can all collapse. Last year, Canadians punished Heinz for closing its Canadian production, Samsung for its exploding phone, and Air Miles for its management of the “points crisis”, just to name a few. A year later, only Samsung has made it back to where they once were.
This year, the same roller-coaster ride seems to have reappeared. This time, it happened to one brand everybody loves. Most of us would think this company would be forever in our top five … or at the worst, our top 10. Well, Tim Hortons moved from 4th place to 50th, losing a full 25 points in the process. The “minimum wage war” has only one victim and it’s the corporate giant. If you think it only hurts Tim’s in Ontario, you would be wrong. It lost 17 points in Quebec right next door.
In the traditional media era, the crisis could have been limited geographically, but these are different times. Once upon a time all you had to do was care for your client, but today you have to care for the environment, the community, gender-equality, and … show you genuinely care about your employees. This lesson also goes out to Sears Canada, where bonuses for a few appeared more important than caring for the average lifer whose career was terminated. With a loss of 61 points this year, Canadians are telling Sears there is nothing left to love.
At the pace at which bad news hits social media, is then reinterpreted by the masses through the endless game of shares, reputation volatility is clearly upon us. If you feel comfortable withyour rank when looking at this year’s results … please don’t!
Welcome to the age of volatility!
To view the results, click here: https://corporatereputationstudy.com/.
