Toyota ranked top global green brand in Interbrand study

Toyota has been named the world’s greenest brand by Interbrand.

Toyota Prius
Toyota Prius

The second and third places are snatched by 3M and Siemens in the survey, which assesses brands by consumer perception and a demonstration of actual environmental performance based on publicly available data.

The study says that Toyota is a leading example of making the environment a core management priority, while also “engaging in a meaningful way with audiences around the world”.

The study found “large gaps” between performance and perception, with L’Oreal (15), Nokia (22) and HSBC (48) all scoring “significantly higher” in performance than perception, meaning the brands are not communicating their efforts very well to the public.

However, McDonald’s (45), GE (24) and Coca-Cola (27) all scored higher in perception than performance and Interbrand says: “This suggests that these highly visible brands enjoy the positive impact of being a well-known, powerful brand, with green perception matching general perception overall.”

Coca-Cola created the role of chief sustainability officer in May.

It identified the auto and electronics categories as leading their way in both implementing sustainable practices and being able to communicate these efforts effectively to consumers.

10,000 consumers across the 10 largest markets, including Japan, China, India, Germany, US and UK, were quizzed for the study and asked how a brand’s green credentials impacted on purchase decisions and “their overall understanding and awareness of the brand’s green activities as a whole”.

Deloitte worked on publicly available data to develop an environmental sustainable performance methodology.

Interbrands ranking of the best global green brands – top 10

Rank Brand Sector Score GAP (performance-perception)
1 Toyota Automotive 64.19 -7.64
2 3M Diversified 63.33 0.74
3 Siemens Diversified 63.08 6.44
4 Johnson & Johnson FMCG 59.41 2.35
5 Hewlett-Packard Electronics 59.06 12.88
6 Volkswagen Automotive 58.9 1.82
7 Honda Automotive 58.85 -11.11
8 Dell Electronics 58.81 11.08
9 Cisco Business Services 57.66 15.07
10 Panasonic Electronics 57.32 12.68

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