If it seems too “pie in the sky” for a company to do right by the planet and still turn a profit, just look to Patagonia.
The outdoor clothing maker, famous for its fleece pullovers, tops the list of CNN’s best rain jackets, and a Men’s Health review asserts that “when you buy from Patagonia you're getting a piece that's going to last you for quite some time.”
A McKinsey interview with Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard reveals how a company can turn a profit and still stick to its values of “quality, integrity, environmentalism, justice, and being unfettered by convention.”
These, and other reasons, are probably why the outdoor retailer ranks at the top of the newest Axios-Harris brand reputation survey, scoring an 83.5 out of 100 “reputational quotient” in the survey that seeks gauge the reputation of the 100 most visible brands in America.
The company has supported environmental groups and causes with money, visibility and more for decades, Axios says, but in 2022 Patagonia took it to another level by creating a legal structure to ensure all profits that aren't reinvested in the company will go toward fighting climate change, and in which “Earth is now our only shareholder.” Patagonia projects an annual dividend of roughly $100 million to fight the climate crisis.
To determine the brands with the best and worst reputations, Axios partnered with Harris Poll and surveyed 16,310 Americans from a nationally representative sample between March 13–28. Respondents were asked which two companies, in their opinion, stand out as having the best reputation today and which have the worst. The nominations are compiled into an aggregate list to determine the “most visible” companies. The respondents rate those 100 most visible companies on nine dimensions of reputation to calculate a score. The nine dimensions are:
- Character
- Trajectory
- Trust
- Culture
- Ethics
- Citizenship
- Vision
- Growth
- Products & services
The 100 companies are ranked based on the overall score.
Here are the 15 companies with the best reputations, and the 15 with the worst reputations for 2023.
1. Patagonia
Score: 83.5
Sector: Lifestyle & fashion
Patagonia ranked No. 1 in five of nine specific categories: Character, trajectory, ethics, citizenship and products & services.
2. Costco
Score: 82.1
Sector: Retail, wholesale & distribution
The discount warehouse retailer ranked No. 1 in the trust, culture, and growth categories.
3. John Deere
Score: 82.0
Sector: Industrial and electronic products
John Deer ranked No. 2 in the categories of culture and products & services.
Getty Images for John Deere
4. Trader Joe's
Score: 81.7
Sector: Retail, wholesale & distribution
TJ’s ranked No. 3 for citizenship, vision and growth.
5. Chick-fil-A
Score: 81.4
Sector: Fast food/quick service dining
The fast food restaurant ranked No. 1 in the vision category.
6. Toyota Motor Corporation
Score: 81.0
Sector: Automotive
Toyota
7. Samsung
Score: 81.0
Sector: Technology
8. Amazon.com
Score: 80.7
Sector: Retail, wholesale & distribution
9. USAA
Score: 80.6
Sector: Insurance
USAA ranked No. 2 in citizenship.
10. Apple
Score: 80.6
Sector: Technology
Apple ranked No. 2 in the trajectory category.
Marco Rubino / Shutterstock
11. 3M
Score: 80.5
Sector: Consumer packaged goods
3M is best known for its tapes and adhesives and product brands like Post-it notes and Command hooks.
12. Sony
Score: 79.8
Sector: Technology
13. Honda Motor Company
Score: 79.8
Sector: Automotive
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14. UPS
Score: 79.8
Sector: Supply chain and logistics
UPS ranked No. 3 in the trust category.
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15. Microsoft
Score: 79.7
Sector: Technology
humphery / Shutterstock
86. Subway
Score: 68.22
Sector: Fast food/quick service dining
No. 86 overall, Subway ranked in the bottom 20 across all nine categories.
87. Comcast
Score: 68.02
Sector: Telecommunication
The cable company scored in the bottom 20 across all nine categories.
Image source: Shutterstock
88. Wells Fargo & Company
Score: 67.84
Sector: Financial services
Wells Fargo scored in the bottom 20 across all nine categories; its worst ranking is 88th for trust.
Justin Sullivan/Getty
89. Dollar Tree
Score: 67.3
Sector: Retail, wholesale & distribution
Dollar Tree ranked in the bottom 10 for trajectory, ethics and products & services. Its best ranking was No. 67 for trust. Dollar Tree dropped in the ranking by 15 spots compared with last year.
Trong Nguyen / Shutterstock
90. Family Dollar
Score: 65.6
Sector: Retail, wholesale & distribution
No. 90 Family Dollar ranked in the bottom 10 for character, trajectory, culture, vision and products & services.
91. Balenciaga
Score: 65.5
Sector: Lifestyle & fashion
The luxury fashion house ranked in the bottom 10 for character, trust, ethics, citizenship, vision and growth.
92. BP
Score: 63.53
Sector: Energy
The British Museum recently ended its sponsorship relationship with BP oil company after 27 years.
93. Bitcoin
Score: 61.1
Sector: Financial services
94. TikTok
Score: 61.1
Sector: Telecommunication
There are plenty of reasons to hate TikTok, but one you should worry about is how they collect your data.
CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
95. Spirit Airlines
Score: 60.1
Sector: Airlines
Spirit ranked No. 99 of 100 for products & services, and 98 for both growth and trajectory. A NerdWallet analysis of U.S. airlines last year found Spirit to have the lowest percentage of on-time flights.
Image source: Shutterstock
96. Meta
Score: 59.71
Sector: Telecommunication
The fifth most-hated company, formerly Facebook, ranked in the bottom five in eight of nine categories.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
97. Twitter
Score: 59.31
Sector: Telecommunication
The social media company is the fourth most-hated company.
Muhammed Selim Korkutata / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
98. Fox Corporation
Score: 59.32
Sector: Media & entertainment
Fox ranked 98th for citizenship and culture, and 97th for character, trajectory, trust, ethics and products & services.
99. FTX
Score: 58.6
Sector: Financial services
The bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested and charged with fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, is ranked as the company with the second-worst reputation.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
100. The Trump Organization
Score: 52.9
Sector: other
The group of about 500 business entities owned by former U.S. president Donald Trump is mostly real estate, including hotels, resorts, and golf clubs. The company scored at the bottom, ranking No. 100 across all nine categories.
See the full ranking of all 100 companies at Axios.
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