Bunnings, Woolworths & Qantas the most trusted brands during COVID lockdown: new survey

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bunnings, Woolworths and Qantas were selected by Australians as their most trusted brands – with Commonwealth Bank the big mover.

Roy Morgan today announced that in April, with Australia deep in COVID-19 lockdown, Bunnings emerged as Australia’s most trusted brand. Woolworths was the 2nd most trusted brand and Qantas came in 3rd.

The Roy Morgan Risk Monitor reveals that year-on-year Qantas lifted two trust rankings, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) entered the top-10 most trusted brands for the first time since the Financial Services Royal Commission.

According to Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine, “It’s only a few weeks since we were in lockdown and desperately trying to get to the supermarkets for essentials. And despite accusations of price gouging, delivery problems, and supply chain failures Woolworths rode the storm best and came out really trusted by Australians.

“Woolworths was on the front foot from the outset and that appears to have resonated with Australians.

“This is also a great result for Bunnings. Australian’s just love it – even when they can’t have a sausage sizzle. Bunnings keeps innovating and creating new connections with its customers. It’s a global retail case study,” she said.
 
“But Qantas and the CBA are the standout performers. Qantas was frequently in the media flying stranded Australians home from across the globe throughout the pandemic lockdown.

“And in early March Matt Comyn, CEO of the CBA, moved quickly to offer financially stressed customers loan payment relief. He had a high profile during the lockdown and that has paid dividends for the CBA’s level of trust. 

The retail sector emerged as Australia’s most trusted industry, with the supermarket sector 2nd and consumer products 3rd.

On the flipside, Facebook and AMP were revealed as the most distrusted brands in Australia during April 2020.

“AMP still struggles to recover from the Royal Commission fallout. We saw it leap from virtually no distrust to become the second most distrusted brand in the nation,” Ms Levine said.

“As a consequence, AMP’s soaring distrust saw billions of dollars withdrawn from investments under management and the company’s share price plummet by more than 70%.

“That’s the real risk of distrust. It is not just a reputational issue, it has a material impact on a company’s revenues and market value,” she said.

The Roy Morgan Risk Monitor surveys 1,000 Australians every month to measure levels of trust and distrust in more than 800 brands across 25 industry sectors. Respondents are asked which brands and companies they trust, and why, and which brand and companies they distrust, and why. The survey is specially designed to be open-ended and context-free, i.e. unprompted.

Roy Morgan Risk Monitor data is made available in a variety of formats, from snapshot overviews to detailed tracking of individual brands and their competitors.

To learn more call (+61) (3) 9224 5309 or email askroymorgan@roymorgan.com.

View the Risk Report.