The reality is as always a little different

Between their natural distrust of capitalism, the avalanche of social plans brought by the recession and the impact of the sometimes intemperate remarks of a part of the political class, you might think our sustainably angry compatriots with the companies. The reality is, as always, a little different. Realized for the first time in France in partnership with "Les echos", the Global Reputation Index prepared by the BVA Institute instead shows a more thoughtful attitude that we think, even if certain groups such as the Société Générale may suffer from the bad mood of the moment. Surveyed in March and April, at the time when the economic crisis is becoming especially acute, 1.276 respondents engaged in effect a surprising list of their favorite companies. Made from 100 companies selected according to their unaided awareness, our ranking is sitting on two criteria: the image and the sense of proximity that they inspire. And if the first ten of our ranking stand out, not only because of a reputation as sitting for a long time, but also because their strategy appears to be perfectly adapted to difficult times.

This subtle mixture of long and short term probably explains the presence of an unpublished trio at the head of our list: in order, Decathlon, La Poste and Ikea. A podium which says as much on the image of these companies on the tastes of our fellow citizens. Discount, public service and relaxation stain effect greatly our ranking. In addition to the post, two other companies of the public sphere settled in the first 10: EDF to 6th place and Orange-France Telecom at 8. Another group shooting, that of distributors since, Decathlon and Ikea, Carrefour and Leclerc, which heavily focused their communication on the prices in recent years, respectively reach the 4th and 5th place. Also, note the high proportion of French companies since seven of them are included in the Group of 10, including Yves Rocher (9th) that achieves an amazing breakthrough. With foreigners, (7) Google seems not to suffer ongoing polemics on his omnipotence, or Coca-Cola (10th) suffer from the negative image of sodas returned by anti-obesity campaigns. "There is overall a premium to strong brands, including those related multimedia as well as companies with which the French have physical contact, whether it stores or search engines", explains Gaël Sliman, Deputy Director General of BVA.

The banks severely judged

At the other end of the spectrum are companies particularly severe during the crisis. The 100th place (on the sole criterion of the image), Total, used the classification Fund, pay once again a ultramédiatisé event, the announcement of a social plan in refining on 10 March last, just after announcement of record profits for 2008 (13.9 billion euros). The group, but one of the most efficient in the world in its sector, decidedly fails to get rid of the irrational atmosphere that surrounds it. On each of the 8 criteria that we have chosen to assign an image note (), Total displays the less good score. A syndrome who wins in turn Société Générale. If Frédéric Oudéa, his new boss, says that the commercial results of the first quarter absolutely have not suffered the Kerviel case or the controversy over the stock of its leaders, our respondents, they show that the image of the Bank has suffered severely since she is ranked 96th rank, barely better than Natixis and its heavy losses (98th). Total as Société Générale must include their poor performance in a very bad note assigned by our respondents on two criteria: their ability to be sincere and attitude towards their employees. In General, the banking sector, the sources of the same crisis if French institutions perform more honourably, severely held by the French, with the exception of the Caisses d'Epargne and Crédit Agricole who manage to climb in the first thirty.