AbbVie tops the RepTrak ranking for most reputable pharma company in the UK

Reputation Institute has announced that AbbVie, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk top the RepTrak ranking of the most reputable pharmaceutical companies in the UK.

The top 10 companies in the 2016 UK Pharma RepTrak, which are all perceived as having strong reputations, are:

1. AbbVie
2. Sanofi
3. Novo Nordisk
4. Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD)
5. Abbott Laboratories
6. Allergan
7. Bayer
8. Astellas
9. Bristol-Myers Squibb
10. Shire

The companies are ranked based on more than 1,600 ratings collected in the first quarter of 2016 from members of the UK general public. The RepTrak system measures a company’s ability to deliver on stakeholder expectations on the seven key rational dimensions of reputation: products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership, and performance.

Roche, GSK and Pfizer sit at the bottom of the pack

Companies are ranked on a score from 0-100 based on their overall reputation, and are grouped as Excellent (80+), Strong (70-79), Average (60-69), Weak (40-59) or Poor (Below 40):

• AbbVie, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk lead the pharmaceutical category, with MSD and Sanofi showing major improvements on last year, and AbbVie taking the lead in its first year of measurement.
• Giants Roche, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer are sitting at the bottom of the pack this year, with perceptions of GSK declining from ‘strong’ to ‘average’ over the last three years.

Interestingly, Reputation Institute found that companies within the pharmaceutical industry have a better reputation in the UK than elsewhere in the world. Pharmaceutical companies in the UK have an average RepTrak score of 72.8, while the average score globally is only 67.6; the US comes in at a close second with a score of 72.7.

The sector also ranks favorably compared to others in the UK. The sector has the third best reputation, beating eight others including technology and hospitality, and coming in just behind the consumer and retail industries, due to strength across all seven rational dimensions of reputation.

Corporate narrative more important than products

The RepTrak study reveals that corporate narrative is more important than products, for a pharma company’s reputation. The UK general public’s willingness to recommend a pharma company, speak about it positively and buy its products is predominantly driven by perceptions of the company (61%), vs. the products themselves (39%). Despite the importance the UK general public places on pharma companies’ governance, citizenship and leadership, only 50% are actually aware of what businesses are doing in these areas.

Kasper Ulf Nielsen, Executive Partner at Reputation Institute, comments: “With perceptions of who you are as a company being such a huge driver of reputation, and the lack of understanding in the general public about what the individual companies stand for, the message is clear. The pharmaceutical companies should focus on engaging and telling their corporate story to put a human face on the companies behind the drugs.”

Nielsen continues, “The results in the UK demonstrate that pharmaceutical companies should not be afraid to tell their story. The levels of trust, admiration, and respect for who they are is strong among the general public, and they want to know more.”

Reputation Institute’s research also reveals that reputation drives business results. The better the reputation, the more support a company gets. For pharmaceutical companies with an average reputation, only 20% would definitely recommend the company; this climbs to 31% if the reputation is strong, but increases to 79% if the reputation is excellent. “The impact of reputation on the business is massive, which is why the leading companies in the world are managing this asset in a systematic way,” says Nielsen.