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In an industry overflowing with high-end technologies, it’s unsurprising that luxury brands have achieved the best reputations. The quality associated with desirable products clearly resonates with consumers.
However, the importance of consistency, reliability and trust cannot be overlooked. More affordable brands such as Nissan, Toyota, Ford and Volvo have all been deemed to have strong reputations. So it shows glamour isn’t the only influencing factor.
This was gleaned from the RepTrak ranking of automotive companies reputations amongst the UK general public and the results, according to Kasper Ulf Nielsen, executive partner at Reputation Institute, highlight the impact reputation has on business success. He said: While the automotive industry is largely driven by the quality and reliability of products, Brits have become more aware and concerned by the wider practices of these companies.”
Just take a look at Volkswagen the company learned full-force that a lack of honesty can have a greater impact on reputation than the quality of the products you make. As such, we took a look at the ranking’s top automotive brands and why those firms have a more-than-stellar reputation.
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(1) BMW
Most people assume BMW’s reputation comes purely from the quality of its cars. While that may be largely true, it certainly can’t take all the credit for the brand’s success. This is why one of its greatest marketing campaigns began with the line, “we do not make cars…”
BMWs strategy is to keep its products in the introduction and growth stages by periodically introducing new models in each of its product lines only once in a blue moon will you see a car reach the maturity or decline stage. It’s a brand very much in the business of fostering change, sporting various slogans and taglines over the years compared to Nike’s staple “Just Do It”.
It’s all done on purpose, of course, because it wants to keep its image fresh. Take, for example, some of its slogans. To name a few: “BMW. The Ultimate Driving Machine”, “BMW: Sheer Driving Pleasure” and “The Ultimate Driving Experience”. The most important element: don’t they all effectively say the same thing
(2) Aston Martin
It’s an iconic scene that everyone will remember: minutes into Goldfinger, James Bond asks Q what’s become of his Bentley. “Oh, it’s had its day, I’m afraid,” Q explained. “You’ll be using this Aston Martin DB5.”
It leads directly into what makes Aston Martin so great and I’m not talking about the movies its cars feature in. The brand has had what CEO Andy Palmer dubs an “omotenashi”. Having worked with Nissan in Japan for 24 years, he has injected Japan’s commitment for entertaining customers into Aston Martin’s DNA.
?My relationship with Japan has given me a great education in terms of putting the customer first and putting the customer above everything else,” Palmer explained.
In other words, it’s all about telling a story and designing content to build on the heritage and history of the brand something which lent itself well to the image of being driven by a British agent. Its approach to niche storytelling and ability to enhance the customer experience is key to its success.
From leading the innovation revolution to ensuring variety, read on to find out what you can learn from the next three cars in the ranking.
(3) Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)
According to UK managing director Jeremy Hicks, for JLR it’s all about knowing what the public wants and maintaining a keen interest in relationships with customers, as well as valuing their thoughts.
JLR intermingles those aspects and one particular example is how it changed the way its cars were being built. It’s difficult being an automotive firm in an era where everyone is conscious about the environment. In this sense, JLR is giving its rivals a lesson in creativity.
The brand has started building new cars on old chassis found at the factory, and its announcement of souring E-Types across the globe and rebuilding them in Britain can only be described as innovative. This penchant for breaking the mould extends even further. The company has its own 007 Q-style experience! It recently opened a 20m “special ops” headquarters which is geared towards creating bespoke, and undoubtedly expensive, cars for the wealthy.
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(4) Mercedes-Benz
There’s one word that can describe what led to Mercedes-Benz’s success: variety. Often a luxurious line is very exclusive, and as such, has less products and choices, focusing on a very small and fairly non-variable product range.
But most of all, it’s about offering a product that’s reliable. In fact,A decade agoMercedes used to be the car of choice for taxisAll over the worldgiven how comfortable the seats were and how safe the car was known to be.
So in much the same way that BMW endeavours to keep its key messages the same, Mercedes strives to offer cars that are known for beingcomfortable and reliable. Maybe less in the recent years, with many suggesting the car is packed with technology that is unneeded but the perception remains.
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(5) Nissan
Quality and efficiency are two factors no company can do without. But when you’re in the business of making products then you’re only as great as your suppliers and the factories being used.
Take, for example, the UK arm of the Nissan operation based in Sunderland. In March 2012, Nissan had a growth spurt thanks to Sunderland’s success in attracting investment from its parent company. This rested on the plant’s reputation as a particularly efficient car factory, as well as its close relationships with local suppliers and its ability to support new ones.
Nissan’s then chief executive Carlos Ghosn, was well aware that “the Sunderland plant set an important benchmark for quality and efficiency in Europe and around the world”. And still to this day, Sunderland is recognised as having been a vital contributor to bolstering the manufacturing industry and thus helping to rebalance the UK economy.
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