The new ‘superpower’ of corporate reputation

Air NZ’s reputation is sky high for the eighth consecutive year according to the Kantar Corporate Reputation Index. NZ Marketing looks into what makes a brand reputable for New Zealanders in the current climate.

This year, the airlines’ top marks included the highest ranking in valuing diversity and inclusion despite this being the first time this has been a category in the survey. 

Sarah Bolger, Kantar Insights Division Chief Client Officer, says the addition of diversity and inclusion was prompted by an on-going effort to ensure the index reflects the way corporate reputation is perceived by New Zealanders.

“Diversity and inclusion is a ‘superpower’ for reputation as top companies in the Corporate Reputation Index (CRI) tend to perform exceptionally well with diversity and inclusion.”

This year Kantar focused on this element of the Responsibility pillar of the CRI as it is “increasing in importance each year”.

“Given the recent focus on diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the industry of late, and the visible representation for many companies, we included a D&I measure this year to get a good read across the corporates we measure. We let the data tell us if this was meaningful, and it is. We found a correlation between D&I and our Corporate Reputation Index and are considering including it in the measure next year.”

 Sixty four percent of respondents said Air NZ had a reputation for creating an environment where people with different backgrounds and perspectives feel valued and welcomed. 

Formerly known as the Colmar Brunton Corporate Reputation Index, and established in partnership with Wright Communications in 2015, the Kantar Corporate Reputation Index uses Kantar’s global RepZ framework with standardised reputation attributes for Trust (37 percent weighting), Leadership (24 percent), Fairness (22 percent) and Responsibility (16 percent). The survey was conducted in February and March 2022. 

Trust is also becoming a more important pillar for overall reputation Bolger says – with the weighting up two percent from 35 percent to 37 percent this year.

“In these uncertain times New Zealanders are placing more emphasis on products and services they trust.” 

Air New Zealand’s overall RepZ score of 110 was one point up from its score of 109 last year. Air New Zealand scored highest for Trust (116) and Responsibility (110) and ranked third for Leadership (111). An overall RepZ score of 105 or more represents a world class rating.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran says he is proud to see Air New Zealanders recognised after yet another challenging year.  

“Secret to our success is our diverse and inclusive workforce that truly reflects Aotearoa. When you’re building back a resilient workforce, one that can weather the storm and contribute to the success of Air New Zealand, this is incredibly important.

“I’m incredibly proud of the mahi our people do day in day out to create an environment where everyone can thrive.”

TVNZ scored the same rounded RepZ score as Air New Zealand, coming in second due to a slightly lower scoring of 111 for Trust and third for Fairness (116) behind Pak ‘n Save (121) and Kmart (118).

Bolger said companies with a reputation index of 105 or higher were in the “resilient zone” and were well placed to weather the storm of bad publicity.

Mitre 10 entered the Kantar Corporate Reputation Index for the first time making it to third place with an overall score of 108 just ahead of Bunnings, Pak ‘n Save, AA Insurance and Toyota which all also scored 108 after rounding.