ET Trust Survey - not so trustworthy..

The Nielson Survey for ET Brand Equity on Most Trusted Brands can't be trusted too much..

On the face of it, it appears that ET and Nielson decided which brands should feature in the list so it doesn't provide the option of picking your own brand. It's more like pick one from my favourites..

The methodology for the survey can be found at http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Methodology-of-most-trusted-brands-2009-survey/articleshow/4722635.cms

The study is on only seven parameters and frankly, they all appeared to have a similar meaning.. One question was, 'is it known, recognised and accepted by a wide array of consumers'.. how does that impact my trust of the brand? I don't trust Big Bazaar and even if the world does, I don't care. That does not define my trust of the brand. Another parameter is whether the brand has been around for many years and is etched in public memory. Based on this parameter, how names like Tata Docomo and Aircel made it to the top 50 is beyond me. They've only just arrived. This itself shows a flaw in the entire process of shortlisting brands as well as conducting of te survey.

The only achievement in the survey is that they have carried it out using a sample numbering over 8000.. but any market research company will tell you that such numbers hold no meaning unless the methodology is stringent. It all depends on the person carrying out the survey.. very subjective..

The funniest thing is that they have SELECTED top 88 service brands and then listed the top 50. Is that ridiculous or what?

The methodology for the survey states 'After considerable brainstorming by Brand Equity along with Nielsen the list of 300 brands (212 consumer products and 88 service brands) is finalised'. So really, they have already decided 300 brands to choose from and people pick from a list. Not impartial and definitely not trustworthy.. Picking 50 top Service brands from a list of 88  or 100 top consumer brands from a list of 212 is hardly noteworthy.

Check the multiple lists at http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/6473544.cms It includes 100 most trusted brands, Top 50 Service Brands, Top 50 Digital Brands, Top trusted brands across age groups, Top Digital Brands - category-wise, India's most trusted brands in 2009 all from a list of 300 pre-selected brands.


The list includes education institutes like Kendriya Vidyalay and Delhi Public School but no mention of IIT or IIM. There is no mention of brands from either the hospitality sector or healthcare.

And the biggest joke is Air India coming out tops in the Airlines.. ahead of Kingfisher? Even people in tier 2 and tier 3 towns know the horror stories of Air India.

I wonder if Brand Equity is now going the Page 3 way..