PRmoment’s regular monthly analysis of top global brands, shows that Google continues to hold the top spot when it comes to online coverage. Each month, we commission research looking at which of the top 20 international brands are in the spotlight. Comparing this with last month’s research, shows that the same five brands are dominating the media: Google, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Apple and Toyota.

Top Brands League Table

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Too often, Toyota is hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons, resulting in 30 per cent of its coverage being negative, while Microsoft scored just 6 per cent negative coverage. However, it is not all bad news for Toyota, as there has been considerable media interest in the increased sales of its hybrid Prius. For example, there was this headline at autoevolution.com on 10 March: “Toyota Prius posts new sales record in the UK”.

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It is a real achievement for Toyota to generate so much positive coverage following the trouble it has been having (see here). Milorad Ajder, reputation centre managing director at research company Ipsos MORI, believes that during such difficult times, it is vital to rebuild trust as quickly as possible. Ajder comments: “Trust is at the core of every brand relationship and organisations that are seen to be trying to stay true to their brand values even in difficult times will gain some degree of credit.

“Negative things happen such as strikes (BA) and product defects (Toyota), but the real damage is done if an organisation is not perceived to be tackling the issue in an open and transparent way. In many cases a reputation challenge only becomes a crisis when individuals in the organisation somehow become disconnected from what their organisation stands for, the brand promises it makes and the outside world”.

As well as generating more news than the other brands, Google should also be pleased that it is getting more positive coverage. In the previous research period, just 5 per cent of its coverage was positive, but last month this rose to 16 per cent. Recently, there has been a great deal of reporting about its presence in China, including on 17 March at bbc.co.uk: “Firms in China that sell advertising on Google are demanding clarity about the company's plans in the region.”

One might assume that bad news always makes the headlines more than good news. And for three of the top five brands, this seems to be the case. But Microsoft and Coca-Cola must be doing something right, as affirmative news about these brands eclipsed any derogatory mentions.

Methodology

PRmoment asked Echo Sonar to analyse all UK online media coverage of the 20 top global brands as identified by Interbrand. Echo Sonar further analysed coverage of the five brands which dominated the online media by volume of articles. The research period was 19 February to 19 March 2010.