BlackBerry maker’s plummet
Ironically, in the survey’s second part, which ranks only Canadian companies, homegrown technology company Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) did not receive similar forgiveness. A former fixture in the top 10 and last year’s No. 5, RIM has dropped off the “Canada’s Top 30” list entirely, coming in at No. 38.
“Financially it’s been a terrible year for the company, and its brand has clearly suffered too,” the report said.
Hanna called RIM’s plummet “really dramatic and significant.” The nosedive in ranking is not just based on market sales, but also on reputation, she said.
Hanna believed that Canadians do want RIM to succeed, and for a while they continued to believe in a turnaround. But disappointing quarterly results, continued loss in market share, and the delay of RIM’s crucial BlackBerry 10 model has caused many Canadians to give up on the brand.
However, if RIM has a good quarter in the future, Hanna expects its reputation to bounce back more quickly in Canada than overseas because of Canadians’ support for the BlackBerry maker.
Canadian and global views differ
The survey also found that Canadians’ most trusted and respected multinational brands differed from the international perspective, with only three of Canada’s top 10 (Sony, Disney, and Mercedes) overlapping with the 10 best global scorers.
