Google has topped the reputation rankings among Millennials, closely followed by Rolex and Walt Disney, in the Reputation Institute’s 2018 Millennial RepTrak report. Nintendo, LEGO, Sony, BMW, Canon, Adidas and Microsoft then complete the top ten.

The study is based on more than 230,000 individual ratings from among the informed general public across the globe, with 145 multi-national companies assessed. With an estimated 1.8 billion Millennials across the globe, the study results come at a critical time as Millennials are set to comprise 35 per cent of the global workforce by 2020.

Google also displays great consistency with a top 3 ranking among both Millennials and the global public overall, while also coming in pole position in the latest RI CSR ranking.

Products and services are the most important single driver of corporate reputation according to the latest figures, but they also place huge importance on areas of corporate responsibility, but interestingly all score lowest in this area, highlighting the opportunities that exist for companies who can improve their CSR performance and communicate this to Millennials.

The study also indicates the important role of strong corporate leadership in communicating corporate responsibility. There was a strong improvement in reputation score among those familiar with the CEO, yielding the highest reputation lift for companies in the UK, Australia, US and South Korea.

Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, chief reputation officer added: “CEO responsibility is a leading quality for most Millennials, highlighting their importance as the face of the company. To improve their reputation among Millennials, CEOs need to focus on conveying a sense of social responsibility and ethical behaviour. The highest dimension lift among those familiar with CEOs are in the key dimensions of citizenship and governance.”

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