Canada's most trusted brands

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sj-roc
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The Gustavson School of Business at UVic has released a study — the first in what it intends to be an annual ranking — detailing Canada's most trusted brands. Tim Hortons topped the list, by quite a wide margin.

Many media outlets have listed the top ten brands of the 249 that were ranked, but I see the Victoria Times-Colonist has extended it out to the top 20 (scroll down for these).

http://www.timescolonist.com/business/u ... -1.1976531
University of Victoria survey reveals our most-trusted brands
Andrew Duffy / Times Colonist
June 23, 2015 05:05 AM


It may be controlled by a Brazilian hedge fund, but Canada’s doughnut king is considered the most trusted brand in the country, according to a new index released today by the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business.

The Gustavson Brand Trust Index, which UVic intends to release annually, listed Tim Hortons among a top-10 of trusted brands that includes Shoppers Drug Mart, Google and Canadian Tire.

Tim Hortons was recently acquired by Restaurant Brands International, which is controlled by 3G Capital of Brazil. There are 3,773 Tim Hortons restaurants in Canada, and 4,724 locations worldwide.

“They really are the iconic Canadian brand,” said Saul Klein, dean of the Gustavson School. “It will be interesting to see what happens [with new ownership] as one of the things that makes them really strong is community engagement. Will they sustain the spending on those elements? One would hope so to maintain their value proposition.”

Community engagement such as minor-sports sponsorships and following the Canadian military into conflict zones, and the perception Tim Hortons’ outlets offer good value for the money, put the brand at the top of the index.

Klein said the index has been established to raise awareness of the role that trust plays in the minds of consumers when making purchase decisions.

“The issue of trust is an interesting one. People are losing trust in institutions, media, government, corporate spokespeople ... in many ways trust is the glue that holds our society together, and when trust is eroded it’s not good for anybody,” Klein said.

In that light, the Gustavson School wanted to understand why consumers would pick one brand over another. “With the idea that if we can generalize and show the things consumers are looking for in brands, we could help reverse some of those trends and have businesses see they can get a competitive advantage by rebuilding that trust,” said Klein.

The index was compiled from answers given by 3,133 Canadian adults (ages 18 to 65) to questions covering 40 characteristics of 249 companies.

The result showed Tim Hortons was miles ahead of its category competitors on consistency, reliability, honesty and care, and scored strongly on care for workers and environmental responsibility.

All of the 249 companies were scored against a range of functional, emotional and ethical considerations, and consumers were asked to rate those companies based on factors including quality, value, innovation, leadership and corporate social and environmental responsibility.

Along with Tim Hortons in the index’s top 10 were two George Weston Ltd. brands — President’s Choice and Shoppers Drug Mart. President’s Choice was trusted for sourcing locally, and for value for money, while Shoppers was seen as caring, involved in communities, supporting charities and good value for money.

Google, which ranked fourth, scored well on environment, society, innovation, leadership and unselfishness.

Canadian Tire scored well on community involvement and value for money.

Kraft Foods was trusted for community involvement, supporting charities, consistency and value for money.

Campbell’s Soup was seen as sourcing locally and giving good value for money. The index showed consumers trusted Heinz for its functional qualities rather than emotional ones. It was seen as honest, caring and consistent.

On the other hand, Canada Post was stronger on emotional trust than functional trust, as it was seen as being involved with society, treating its workforce well, is honest, caring, sincere, unselfish, reliable and sources locally.

Johnson & Johnson was rated well for environment, sincerity, supporting charities, being responsible to society and providing value.

Klein said the Gustavson Brand Trust Index will give companies a tool they can benchmark themselves against, while UVic now has a new product to help it establish a bigger footprint on the corporate map.

“It is for us a brand-building exercise, but it’s also reinforcing the message that this — responsible leadership — is at the core of what we do,” he said.

However, he acknowledges it will require attention and a buy-in from both consumers and companies to make it successful.

“Certainly we’d like this to take hold and our plan is to do it annually,” Klein said, adding he would gauge its success by the media attention it gets and the response of listed companies wanting more information.

Though no terms were disclosed, Klein said establishing the index was expensive and they hope to recoup some of the cost by putting together in-depth analysis for individual companies based on the data collected.

“We have a lot more data and a lot more analysis that can be done,” he said. “We are only in the beginning, cutting data in different ways and looking at trends.”

The study has so far found that women tend to trust brands more than men do, though they rank the top brands similarly, and older consumers tend to trust the top brands more than younger consumers do.

The study also found “challenger brands” like Green Works, Happy Planet and Earth’s Own are winning the battle for consumers on the environmental responsibility level.

The study found the least trusted brands were primarily in the financial, travel and utility categories.

TOP 20 NATIONAL BRANDS IN CANADA

1. Tim Hortons 224
2. President’s Choice 189
3. Shoppers Drug Mart 184
4. Google 179
5. Canadian Tire 178
6. Kraft Foods 169
7. Campbell’s Soup 167
8. Heinz 165
9. Canada Post 165
10. Johnson & Johnson 161
11. Amazon 161
12. Walmart 160
13. Quaker 158
14. Subway 156
15. Kelloggs 154
16. Costco 152
17. Coca-Cola 152
18. A&W 152
19. CTV 149
20. Canada Dry 148
I was curious to see if the ranking included anything sportswise, e.g., the CFL or NHL and/or its member teams. I looked around on several pages of the Gustavson School's website but couldn't locate a full list. I think for this more detailed info, one would probably have to pay to access it; the article above notes that the study was expensive to undertake. What I did see was this list of winners for each of 22 brand sectors. I don't see how sports brands would fit into any of these categories so they were probably not included among the 249 chosen brands. The rankings will no doubt evolve/expand with time so we could see these in future years.

http://www.uvic.ca:8080/gustavson/brand ... /index.php
Winners of consumers' trust by industry sector

The Gustavson Brand Trust Index measures the performance of brands and companies in 22 industry sectors. Here are the sectors together with the #1 in each category scored on brand trust factors.

Banks: Toronto Dominion Bank
Beer: Alexander Keith’s
Cars: Honda
Coffee/Tea: DAVIDsTEA
Confectionery/Snack Foods: Cadbury
Consumer Packaged Goods: President's Choice
Dairy: Natrel
Energy Companies: Shell
Hotels: Holiday Inn
Insurance: Manulife
Media: CTV
Natural/Health: Jamieson
Pharmacy: Shoppers Drug Mart
Restaurants/Takeout: Tim Hortons
Retailers (non-drug): Canadian Tire
Soft Drinks/Juices/Waters: Coca-Cola
Supermarkets: Walmart
Technology: Google
Telecoms/Cable: TELUS
Travel: Westjet
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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Sir Purrcival
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Tim Hortons's :dizzy:

I trust them alright. To be ridiculously inefficient and I'm batting around 75% that they get my order right or have what I ask for. IMO, it is one of the least efficient places I have ever seen in the fast food segment. They have people running around behind the counters like headless chickens. The method by which they process customers is crazy for the volume they do. Doughnuts on this side, sandwiches over there, cash in the middle. You get people trying to get to stuff having to squeeze by others to get it. There tables are seldom bussed and they insist on putting single user washrooms in a restaurant that at any give time has a dozen people lined up and every table full.

The are consistent in their product for the most part but sadly they seem too consistent in many aspects not so positive. Makes me hate that I love doughnuts. If there was a credible alternative available, I would probably never grace the place.
Last edited by Sir Purrcival on Fri Jun 26, 2015 7:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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TheLionKing
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I agree with SP. Timmie's is by far the slowest of all fast food service
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sj-roc
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It seems you guys are referring to the eat-in experience at TH. I suspect most of their business is from drive-thru sales where service is likely faster and that the survey respondents were likely so weighted in the grading process. Full disclosure, I never eat at TH (on account of dietary restrictions but barely at all even before this was the case), nor do I drink coffee at all so I have little to no use for the place other than the very occasional tea. Which, last time I was there, they had differential pricing on the various cup sizes when they all use the same tea bag and differ only in amount of water. AFAIK most places charge the same price for tea no matter the cup size.

A&W was a bit of a surprise for me in the top 20. Likewise I'm sure some people would say Walmart has no business finishing high as #12.

I found this other document from their findings that gives rankings for some telecom/cable companies. They note (not surprisingly IMHO) that this sector is below average in consumer trust when comparing sectors, and accordingly offer the following rankings/grades:

1. Sasktel 210.4
2. Videotron 176.8
3. TELUS 79.6
4. Bell Canada 72.4
5. Shaw 66.1
6. Rogers 60.9
7. Koodo 57.7
8. Fido 46.9
9. MTS 35.0


The document notes that 100 = Canadian brand trust average across all brands, which I think ought to mean that these telecom grades are on the same scale as those for the top 20 ranked companies listed in my OP. Since the top two of these are regional (not national) brands, they don't appear in the top 20 overall even though their grades would otherwise warrant it.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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KnowItAll
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most trusted doesn't mean best.
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Tighthead
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SJ - with the biggest one they give you two tea bags.

Canada Post? Wal Mart?

I avoid both at all costs.
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sj-roc
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KnowItAll wrote:most trusted doesn't mean best.
But companies don't really care whether their brands are "best" (however one might define that), but rather just how profitable they are, which correlates more closely to how well consumers trust them rather than their overall quality. This study was conducted as much for the businesses behind these brands as for consumers, perhaps even more. I see they are offering to each business in this study, a custom 50pp report on all the findings pertaining to that business, for a cost of $15,000, with price breaks for committing to next year and even beyond.

This report is also about branding for UVic's business school itself. It seems to me they want to build a higher public profile for themselves by having this annual report associated with the school, much as Maclean's magazine has become identified with its annual university rankings, and the Fraser Institute with its annual Tax Freedom Day declaration.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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sj-roc
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Tighthead wrote:SJ - with the biggest one they give you two tea bags.
At TH? Really? Huh, I guess I've never ordered that size. How many ounces is that anyway? At any rate, one tea bag is meant for 16oz and I'd never want beyond that amount in one sitting.
Canada Post? Wal Mart?

I avoid both at all costs.
Other parts of the lower mainland might differ and I'm not sure where you are, but Walmart is easy to avoid in Vancouver what with their only being one location in the extreme NE corner of the city. Our city council's hostility to Walmart has been well-documented for years now and their relatively low-key presence here reflects it.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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Sir Purrcival
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sj-roc wrote:It seems you guys are referring to the eat-in experience at TH.
Can't see what impact that would have when my chief complaint is that they either don't have it or get it wrong. I'm not a complex guy, I usually order just a doughnut. Too many times I have to go to a 2nd or even a 3rd choice. On the rare occasion that I order a sandwich, I have but one request "no tomato please". It is a good thing that they aren't life threatening to me otherwise Tim's would have killed me 10 times over. I guess I shouldn't complain too much. The aggravation is so great that it tends to keep me away unless I particularly have a strong craving for something sweet. My waistline is grateful for that. If my experience is even remotely close to others, then I fail to see how Tim's could be the most trusted. I feel I have to be extra vigilant with them more so than any other restaurant, bar none. Maybe I should just start drinking coffee. Maybe they get that right more often.
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KnowItAll
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Sir Purrcival wrote:
sj-roc wrote:It seems you guys are referring to the eat-in experience at TH.
Can't see what impact that would have when my chief complaint is that they either don't have it or get it wrong. I'm not a complex guy, I usually order just a doughnut. Too many times I have to go to a 2nd or even a 3rd choice. On the rare occasion that I order a sandwich, I have but one request "no tomato please". It is a good thing that they aren't life threatening to me otherwise Tim's would have killed me 10 times over. I guess I shouldn't complain too much. The aggravation is so great that it tends to keep me away unless I particularly have a strong craving for something sweet. My waistline is grateful for that. If my experience is even remotely close to others, then I fail to see how Tim's could be the most trusted. I feel I have to be extra vigilant with them more so than any other restaurant, bar none. Maybe I should just start drinking coffee. Maybe they get that right more often.
I don't think they deserve to be called a donut store anymore. I find that, I assume, because they have added so many other items, the donut selection has shrunk a lot. In most of the places I have gone into around surrey in the last few yrs, the donut counter is lest than 24% of total. Maybe even as low as 10%. They are just a café that has donuts, along with coffee, pop, other drinks, chili, soup, sandwiches, etc
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Sir Purrcival wrote:
sj-roc wrote:It seems you guys are referring to the eat-in experience at TH.
Can't see what impact that would have when my chief complaint is that they either don't have it or get it wrong. I'm not a complex guy, I usually order just a doughnut. Too many times I have to go to a 2nd or even a 3rd choice. On the rare occasion that I order a sandwich, I have but one request "no tomato please". It is a good thing that they aren't life threatening to me otherwise Tim's would have killed me 10 times over. I guess I shouldn't complain too much. The aggravation is so great that it tends to keep me away unless I particularly have a strong craving for something sweet. My waistline is grateful for that. If my experience is even remotely close to others, then I fail to see how Tim's could be the most trusted. I feel I have to be extra vigilant with them more so than any other restaurant, bar none. Maybe I should just start drinking coffee. Maybe they get that right more often.
I mentioned that since you were describing stuff like the interior layout and the washroom situation, which wouldn't matter much to drive-thru customers. I'm not really a TH fan, either, for my own reasons, so I hope I don't come off like I'm defending them. In the times I ate there it was usually a sandwich order and I would consider it acceptable then. But it simply no longer meets my needs. They also went through some backlash a few years ago when it was revealed that their baked goods would no longer be prepared fresh on site but rather trucked in, pre-baked and frozen to be thawed/heated. I'm not sure if they ever reversed this practice but they seem to have weathered that rocky situation.

I think a lot of what endears TH to the public is the extra stuff they do away from the service counter. Sponsoring of the curling Brier and hockey leagues of the type Sidney Crosby once played in, bringing coffee to military personnel stationed in overseas war zones, stuff like that. The annual roll up the rim contest is popular, too. So popular in fact that it caused a controversy this year when a customer was disqualified because of some obscure technicality from receiving a prize — I think it was $100 in either cash or a TH gift card — from her winning cup, although the owner of the location where she got the cup eventually awarded her the prize when the story hit the news.
KnowItAll wrote:I don't think they deserve to be called a donut store anymore. I find that, I assume, because they have added so many other items, the donut selection has shrunk a lot. In most of the places I have gone into around surrey in the last few yrs, the donut counter is lest than 24% of total. Maybe even as low as 10%. They are just a café that has donuts, along with coffee, pop, other drinks, chili, soup, sandwiches, etc
Even TH no longer really consider themselves a donut shop. In the early years they were called "Tim Horton's Donuts", but they eventually dropped the final word many years ago as they expanded their product line. They also axed the apostrophe at some point which IIRC was because of Quebec's French language sign laws. The ' made it an English name since they don't use it in French as in English to denote possessives.

Prob worth noting that TH is a BC Lions (and CFL?) sponsor and has its name affixed to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats stadium.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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Sir Purrcival
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Ah well, we can all Beootch about them over a coffee and a doughnut :beer:
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