Surprisingly Trusted Brands

Here are the ‘Most Trusted Brands’ in 2010 according to the recent Reader’s Digest Canada survey:

• Air Canada (Airline)

• Claritin (Allergy Relief)

• RBC Royal Bank AND TD Canada Trust (Bank/Credit Union)

• Duracell (Batteries)

• Kellogg’s (Breakfast Cereal)

• Buckley’s (Cough/Cold Remedies)

• Visa (Credit Card)

• Canon (Digital Camera)

• Secret (Female Deodorant)

• Robin Hood (Flour)

• Gas Retailer ESSO

• Maxwell House (Ground Coffee)

• Sony (Home Entertainment)

• Best Western and Holiday Inn (Hotel Chain)

• Breyers and Chapman’s (Ice Cream)

• Sun Life (Life Insurance)

• Old Spice (Male Deodorant)

• Becel (Margarine)

• BlackBerry (Mobile Devices)

• Apple (Mobile Entertainment)

• Toyota (Passenger Car manufacturer)

• Iams (Pet Food)

• Ford (Cough/Cold Remedies)

• RE/MAX (Residential Realtor)

• Campbell’s (Soup)

• Pepto-Bismol (Stomach Ailment Remedy)

• Coppertone (Sunscreen Skin Protection)

• Ford and Toyota (SUV Manufacturer)

Some of these make sense to me. Others strike me as odd:

· Toyota as most trusted? Clearly the survey was taken before all the Recall news.

· Best Western and Holiday Inn? I know they’re cheap, clean, and consistent – but trusted (over Fairmont)? News to me.

· While I didn’t list them above, there are things like deodorants, random food items and others on the list. All in all, it was a very arbitrary grouping of products with no rhyme nor reason.

Which got me thinking – what is the point of this survey? Apparently, 49% of Canadians would trust a product more if it had the Trusted Brand seal, and 44% say they’re more likely to purchase a product if it has the seal. It seems to me that companies may well be paying to have themselves included in the survey…..

That’s the kind of research that makes people skeptical of research.