London Underground and Royal Mail ‘most improved’ brands

London Underground’s role in making the Olympic Games a success has driven consumer perceptions of the transport operator to rise faster than any other brand in the UK this year, while a recent revival of the  Royal Mai’s financial fortunes has lifted public opinions over the same period, according to YouGov’s half year brand rankings. 

Royal  Mail

Both brands top the most improved lists (see list below) in terms of most positive noise generated. 

London Underground’s Buzz ranking – a net balance of the negative and positive statements people have heard about the brand – was 10.6, suggesting a long-term upswing in perceptions of the tube network almost a year on from the London 2012 Games. 

It was followed by Royal Mail’s score of 8.9, with positive media coverage around its turnaround strategy boosting the brand ahead of its IPO, announced yesterday (10 July) by business secretary Vince Cable. 

La Senza (6.7), Santander (7.7) and Sky (6.1) complete the top five improvers. 

Elsewhere, BBC iPlayer was the brand that garnered the most consumer affection, with a Buzz score of 26.6 for the first half of the year. 

Samsung’s high-profile campaigns for its Smart TVs and smartphones helped push it up five places from this time last year to second on the list with a 23.1 score, while John Lewis (22.1) was third. 

Donald Miller, senior research executive at YouGov, says the presence of two BBC sub-brands in the rankings in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal shows consumers can in fact separate different parts of an organisation in their minds.

He adds: “So if one part of a company gets some bad press it doesn’t necessarily drag down the elements that are working well.”

YouGov table

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