Apple’s reputation has taken a hit over the last year, suggests the latest annual Harris Poll Reputation Quotient poll, which shows Apple toppling from fifth place in 2017 to 29th place today.
The poll, which has been carried out every year since 1999, surveyed 25,800 U.S. adults from December through January on the reputations of the “most visible” corporate brands in the world. Amazon held onto the no. 1 spot, which it has held every year for the past five years, with the exception of falling to no. 2 in 2015.
Google also declined in its positioning from no. 8 last year to no. 28 in 2018. Tesla, meanwhile, climbed from no. 9 in 2017 to no. 3 in 2018.
While the survey makes for interesting reading, however, it’s worth noting that it’s not wholly scientific. Apple’s decline in reputation isn’t related to anything that it’s done wrong, so much as simply a perceived lack of significant breakthroughs in the last year as measured by the general public. If anything, it could be taken as an indicator of the fact that Apple could do more to up its marketing presence.
By comparison, another survey carried out earlier this year ranked Apple as the “most intimate” brand in the U.S. In other words, take all surveys like this with a pinch of salt.
According to John Gerzema, CEO of the Harris Poll, the likely reason Apple and Google fell in positioning is that they have not introduced as many attention-grabbing products this year as in previous years. “Google and Apple, at this moment, are sort of in valleys,” Gerzema told Reuters. In other words, both companies have been a bit less exciting than their rivals.
The list of the top 10 companies, as ranked by the poll, can be seen below:
1. Amazon.com
2. Wegmans Food Markets Inc
3. Tesla Motors
4. Chick-fil-A
5. The Walt Disney Co
6. HEB Grocery Company LP
7. United Parcel Service Inc
8. Publix Super Markets
9. Patagonia Inc
10. Aldi Inc
