Bad news for real estate?
Forbes asked nearly 33,000 consumers to rate their perceptions of America’s largest 150 companies to determine which companies ranked as the most and least reputable. While most would think that a company like Halliburton who is frequently demonized would rank as the worst reputable, Freddie Mac ranked as the least reputable of all companies with Fannie Mae following in third place… Halliburton ranked fifth. Ouch.
By comparing the lists of the top ten most and top ten least reputable companies, it is easy to see that consumers have a very bad taste in their mouths right now for banks, mortgage firms, or anything related to the economy while praising retail.
Although retailers market directly to consumers and invest more in managing consumer perceptions while financial institutions do less, the reality of a negative sentiment toward the financial sector is resounding.
Realtors may get lumped in
The unfortunate news for Realtors is that being in the field, you may be lumped in with the Fannies and Freddies of the world, so proactive marketing and separation from the firms that are in their final years and being shut down by the government (after taking over in 2009).
This is no longer just the era of being compared to used car salespeople, it is the era of being lumped in with anything related to real estate. Branding is more important now than ever and companies like RE/MAX are doing well for themselves to continue national television ad campaigns talking to consumers frankly.
The top 10 least reputable companies
- Freddie Mac
- AIG
- Fannie Mae
- Goldman Sachs
- Halliburton
- ExxonMobil
- Citigroup
- Capital One Finance
- Comcast
- Bank of America
The top 10 most reputable companies
- Amazon
- Kraft Foods
- Johnson & Johnson
- 3M
- Kellog’s
- UPS
- FedEx
- Sara Lee
- Walt Disney Co.
What do you think of these results, do they match your own sentiments? Are banks and Fannie/Freddie the blemish of our country or is America simply reacting to the market and looking to blame someone?
BawldGuy
April 9, 2011 at 12:46 pm
If the public was gonna lump in real estate firms, they’d be on the list, right?
Lani Rosales
April 9, 2011 at 4:32 pm
False. This is simply pointing to a trend- Forbes only asked about the top 150 largest companies. Should they open it up to all companies on the planet, the responses would be different, but this definitely points to negative sentiments toward housing and finance by consumers overall.
BawldGuy
April 9, 2011 at 5:05 pm
True enough, however, lenders aren’t housing — they’re lenders. I seen how the brokerage industry could indeed get lumped in as you say, but the acrimony towards lenders is, relatively speaking, a stand alone issue.