During a fully packed virtual awards ceremony, Plus94 Research and Media Torque and Events presented the 11th edition of the annual Top Companies South Africa (TCSA) Reputation Index results, with 178 of the most well-known companies featured.
Despite rising inflation, unemployment and the continuing energy crisis with the post-recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, it showed that the companies on this year’s list remained resilient while navigating various challenges while serving their customers.
Corporate reputation approach measures one of the key intangible assets of any company.
The founding father of the US, Benjamin Franklin said, “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”
The TCSA awards offer a gateway to the understanding and management of corporate reputations.
The TCSA Index measures how the public thinks, feels, and behaves toward the country’s most well-known companies in 20 industrial sectors, and there were 1966 respondents in the 2022 research.
It is the definitive ranking and analysis of corporate reputation for South Africa’s top companies. Corporate reputation management seeks to attract better workers, maintain sustainable suppliers and corporate citizenship, charge a premium, and enjoy strong consumer loyalty.
A company with a good reputation will generate consistent profits and future growth, as well as have greater price-earnings multiples, market valuations, and lower capital costs.
Notable research findings include:
- This year’s TCSA Reputation Index measured the top 178 companies according to reputation.
- The Top 50 companies’ reputation scores varied from a high of 84.8 to a low of 74.6. This score out of 100 was assigned to each organisation based on weighted ratio of the influence on reputation.
- The most reputable company in South Africa was deemed to be Clover South Africa, followed by Pioneer Foods, Volkswagen South Africa, SA Breweries (AB InBev) and Unilever South Africa.
- In 2022, 78% of respondents said they made purchasing decisions based on a company’s reputation. Rejection of companies with bad reputations increased to 47% in 2022, up from 43% in 2021.
- According to 45% of the respondents, companies are failing to address South Africa’s development challenges. Customers are expecting more purpose from the businesses they do business with. Thus, businesses need to be seen as good corporate citizens.
- Most respondents believed that companies should play an important role in job creation, economic expansion, social advancement and overall quality of life improvement in South Africa. They also believed that community organisations should play an important role in national cohesiveness, which includes nation-building and the development of national identities.
Nthabiseng Mokake, the MD of Media Torque and Events, said it was clear that the business landscape had changed post the pandemic and that consumers were looking for more than just mere products but judged companies by their social and developmental footprint.
Consumers today have almost unlimited access to information about companies and can share such information with their peers, making reputation management a crucial element in safeguarding the corporate brand.
Sifiso Falala, CEO of Plus 94 Research, said the TCSA Reputation Index was created because reputation was too important to ignore.
“Sustainable businesses have a better understanding of how to manage corporate reputation. We took a bold decision to come up with a scientific way of predicting the main drivers of reputation. We have seen these change over the years. Global players are set to increase market share in South Africa at the expense of local businesses. One effective way of keeping up with an external onslaught of the domestic market is to build strong reputations.”
Categories:
- Overall, Most Reputational Company – Clover
- FMCG: Food and Personal Care – Clover
- Pharmaceutical Retailers – Dis-Chem Pharmacies
- ICT: Technology – Samsung South Africa
- Retail: Grocery Shopping – Woolworths
- Beverages: Soft – Coca Cola South Africa
- Beverages: Alcoholic – South African Breweries (SAB)
- Retail: Fast Food – Mc Donalds South Africa
- Retail: Fashion Shopping – Ackermans
- Financial Services: Banking – Capitec Bank
- ICT: Telecommunications – Vodacom
- FMCG: Personal Care – Beiersdorf South Africa (Nivea)
- Oil & Gas Companies – Total Energies South Africa
- E-Commerce: Ride-hailing services – Uber
- Motor Manufacturers – Volkswagen
- Hotels – Protea Hotels
- Financial Services: Short Term Insurance – Miway Insurance Ltd
- Government Enterprises: State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) – SABC
- Financial Services: Insurance – Assupol Financial Services
- Pharmaceutical Manufactures – Aspen
- Financial Services: Credit Providers – African Bank
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