Hardware store favourite Bunnings has broken the ‘supermarket duopoly’, as the most trusted brands in Australia for nearly three years, overtaking Coles as the second most trusted brand in the 12 months to September 2023.
In the pre-pandemic era Bunnings was the most trusted brand in Australia and was in top spot until May 2020 when overtaken by Woolworths – which has held first place ever since.
Over the last year overall distrust in organisations and brands has grown disproportionately – the level of distrust is clearly taking Australia further into Net Distrust territory.
Telecommunications company Optus remains the most distrusted brand in Australia – even before the recent data outage in early November 2023 which eventually led to the ouster of former CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin soon after.
Other familiar names near the top of the most distrusted brands include social media giant (and former and long-standing most distrusted brand) Facebook/Meta, embattled airline Qantas, private health insurer Medibank and retail giant Harvey Norman. All four have faced significant scandals in recent years including content policies and moderation, widespread data breaches and allegations of profiteering.
There are also several well-known tech and social media companies in the top ten most distrusted brands including retailing behemoth Amazon and controversial social media companies TikTok and Twitter/X.
According to Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine, “As cost-of-living pressures deepen, this trend only gets worse as much of corporate Australia, from banks and airlines to supermarkets and utilities, are viewed by some as greedy and profiteering; Australians feel their wallets are shrinking while companies and executives are getting richer.”
In contrast, Australia’s favourite hardware chain Bunnings has experienced a significant recovery in trust. From a low in the 12 months to October 2022, trust in the brand has soared -the largest absolute improvement in trust of any of the trusted brands for that period.
“Bunnings has harnessed many of the foundational pillars of a trusted brand including great customer service, communicating what it stands for and delivering, being an active part of the community, solving customer’s problems and expertise and product knowledge,” Levine said.
On the least trusted brands, Levine added: “Risk assessments and procedures by executives and company directors across all industries need to formally factor-in distrust. The flow-on effects from the extensive service outage at Optus in early November have provided a salutary reminder that dealing with distrust should be on the risk register of every board in Australia.
“Distrusted brands have felt the negative consequences of taking ‘business as usual’ for granted. These brands have been directly impacted by lax standards and not guarding properly against the potential for mistakes and errors to quickly metastasise into brand-defining events that destroy company value built up over many years in an instant.”