General Mills Advances in Corporate Reputation Study
General Mills jumps to fourth place in annual survey conducted by Harris Interactive
06/23/2008
Today General Mills moved up two places to finish fourth in this year's Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient (RQ) survey. The study evaluates companies along six key areas that make up a company's corporate reputation: vision and leadership; social responsibility; emotional appeal; products and services; workplace environment; and financial performance.
“Reputation can be measured in recognition, employee recruitment and retention, even stock price multiple,” said Ken Powell, chairman and CEO of General Mills. “But in the end, we believe the most important measure is trust. General Mills values its reputation tremendously, and we constantly strive to remain worthy of the trust of our customers, consumers, employees, investors and communities,” he said.
General Mills finished third in the categories of social responsibility, emotional appeal and workplace environment. General Mills' total score was 80.30, not far behind Google’s No. 1 ranking at 81.85.
The top 10 companies on this year’s list in order of ranking include: 1) Google; 2) Johnson & Johnson; 3) Intel Corporation; 4) General Mills; 5) Kraft Foods; 6) Berkshire-Hathaway Inc.; 7) 3M Company; 8) The Coca-Cola Company; 9) Hondo Motor Co.; 10) Microsoft.
Methodology
Harris Interactive has used the Harris Reputation Quotient (RQ) to measure the reputations of the most visible companies in the U.S. for nine consecutive years. The annual study involves a two-step process which began with a nominations phase of telephone and online interviews with 7,105 people to identify the most “visible” reputations according to the general public.
The second part, or ratings phase, of the annual RQ study is an in-depth assessment of the reputation of the most visible companies in the U.S. and included 20,477 online interviews.
For more information and the complete list of companies, visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
About General Mills
General Mills, with annual net sales of $13.4 billion, is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of consumer foods products based in Minneapolis. General Mills' mission is Nourishing Lives – innovating to make lives healthier, easier, and richer – while Nourishing Communities and Nourishing the Future. Its global brand portfolio includes Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Old El Paso and more. With more than 100 consumer brands and operations in more than 100 countries, General Mills is also a leading supplier of baking and other food products to the foodservice and commercial baking industries.
For more information contact:
Heidi Geller
General Mills
763-764-6364
