by Ray Keating
News/Analysis
DisneyBizJournal.com
May 27, 2022
Brand and reputation matter a great deal to businesses, and The Walt Disney Company would agree. Indeed, advancing and protecting the “brand” long has been a big emphasis with Disney.
Therefore, the latest Axios Harris poll ranking the reputations of 100 companies is worth noting. At the same time, though, polls can be fickle (the Axios Harris poll is “a survey of 33,096 Americans in a nationally representative sample conducted March 11-April 3, 2022”), to say the least. Therefore, company management, analysts, shareholders and general observers should take note of where companies rank, while also recognizing that one poll doesn’t tell the full story.
In particular, there are plenty of businesses that might suffer in a poll or polls, and yet continue to do gangbuster business. I have referred to this as the “Wal-Mart effect,” whereby some people say they don’t want a Wal-Mart in their neighborhood, yet when the store opens, they shop there.
Keeping all of this in mind, the Walt Disney Company clearly took a hit in the 2022 edition of this reputation poll. The company ranked #65 (with a score of 73.4) out of the 100 firms ranked. That was down 28 spots from the 2021 poll, but still ranked in the “good” category.
Only two companies dropped by more spots, with Spectrum falling 71 spots and Pfizer by 37 places. Pfizer ranked #44 in the 2022 list, and Spectrum #82.
The following chart from the report shows where Disney scored and ranked in each category covered by the survey.
The subject of politics is unavoidable when seeing this shift. Axios addressed the matter broadly, and also specifically regarding Disney, in an accompanying analysis.
The piece stated early, “The findings suggest that companies that are slow to respond to political crises, or do it inconsistently, suffer the most in terms of consumer reception and trust.” Or, another interpretation would be that companies that venture into political issues that have nothing to do with their business can suffer.
The Axios analysis offered other points:
• “Disney's ranking dropped significantly — from 37th last year to 65th this year — likely because of its decision to speak out about Florida's ‘Don't Say Gay’ bill after initially opting not to address it.”
• “‘Disney’s about face shows the reputational hit that comes when the public perceives you as being calculating rather than clear in what you believe in and stand for,’ said John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll.”
• “There are some notable exceptions. Netflix faced backlash from its employees for failing to address anti-LGTBQ comments made by Dave Chapelle late last year, but its score wasn’t impacted.”
In fact, Netflix ranked #22 in this year’s survey, moving up 16 spots from last year.
As a final takeaway on how politics might, or might not, play into corporate reputation, the Axios analysis noted: “Some brands with strong political positions continue to rank high among consumers because the quality of their products and services outweigh their political values.” That point lines up with consumers being far more concerned about product quality and price from a company, rather than the real or perceived politics of a firm.
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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?
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