Interbrand publishes "Best Global Green Brands"
For the second time, Interbrand is presenting a study that evaluates brands based on consumer perceptions of their «green» corporate activities and their actual sustainable business practices.
Toyota (rank 1) remains the frontrunner and this year leads Interbrand's global ranking "Best Global Green Brands" together with Johnson & Johnson (rank 2) and Honda (rank 3). Volkswagen (rank 4), Danone (rank 9), BMW (rank 10), Ford (rank 15), Starbucks (rank 36) and UPS (rank 43) are this year's rising stars.
The key findings of the study at a glance:
Automotive industry and technology brands dominate the 2012 ranking
This year, Toyota is once again proving that sustainability is at the core of its corporate strategy and that public education and dialog about it is of great importance. For example, the original Toyota Prius model - the success story and source of Toyota's green image - was recently expanded to include an entire family of greener vehicles, including the first all-electric model. This year, nearly all of Toyota's North American factories have also achieved near-zero residue production. In addition, Toyota is committed to building Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings and dealerships. Eight automotive brands are represented in this year's Best Global Green Brands Ranking, four of which are even in the top ten: Toyota (rank 1), Honda (rank 3), Volkswagen (rank 4), BMW (rank 10), Ford (rank 15), Mercedes-Benz (rank 16), Hyundai (rank 17) and Nissan (rank 21). All in all, the investments in the development and marketing of fuel-efficient vehicles and vehicles with alternative drive systems are paying off - both in terms of performance and perception.
Highest climbers in 2012: Danone, Ford, Starbucks and UPS
Danone (rank 9) improved in the ranking mainly due to its strong commitment to reduce the company's carbon footprint by 30 percent by the end of 2012. To date, a reduction of -27.5 percent has already been achieved. Danone's co-founding of the CO2 investment fund "Livelihoods Fund" in 2011 is another milestone in its sustainability strategy. Ford (rank 15) improves significantly by 5 places. The Ford brand was already perceived as significantly green last year and was able to maintain this perception this year and even improve significantly in the areas of actual performance and transparency. Starbucks (rank 36) and UPS (rank 43) were each able to move up the most places, both rising 6 places compared to 2011.
Newcomers: Nissan, H&M and UBS
Nissan (rank 21), the Japanese carmaker appears in the Best Global Green Brands Report for the first time this year. Nissan is taking ambitious steps to reduce its CO2 emissions worldwide with its newly introduced 6-year ecological plan, the so-called "Nissan Green Program". With the development of a new, easy-to-install fast charger for electric vehicles, with the aim of making cities suitable for electric vehicles today, Nissan has created a basis for continued success on the road to emission-free driving. This is reflected in an extremely high perception score.
H&M (rank 46) launched the environmentally friendly "Conscious Collection" this year, a clothing line made exclusively from sustainable materials. This had a strong impact on consumer perception. However, the brand also improved significantly in the area of performance, through reduced carbon emissions, significantly increased engagement with stakeholders, and more comprehensive disclosure of the company's activities and the associated impact on the environment.
UBS (rank 50) is one of the strongest performers in the financial sector. Despite UBS becoming the largest financier of mountaintop removal mining in the US, the brand saw a slight improvement in its performance score, particularly in the area of work process evaluation, making it into the Interbrand ranking for the first time.
Change in the gaps
Once again this year, some brands show a strong discrepancy between performance and perception. Nokia, Siemens and Xerox, for example, scored significantly higher on the performance level than on the perception level. This suggests that although they operate sustainably, they do not communicate their efforts and successes clearly enough to the outside world and are therefore not perceived accordingly.
Brands such as McDonald's, Microsoft and Ikea, for example, perform much better on the perception side than on the performance side. This means that these brands, due to their strong presence, enjoy a positive impact due to their familiarity and are also perceived as green and therefore meet general expectations.
GE and Coca-Cola, for example, were able to significantly reduce the gap between performance and perception. Although Coca-Cola still has a large negative gap, it was able to successfully reduce its size by 60 percent.
