Bunnings has overtaken Coles and become the second most trusted brand in Australia in the 12 months to September this year.
In the pre-pandemic era, the company was the most trusted brand in Australia, sitting in the top spot until May 2020 when it was overtaken by Woolworths, which has been number one ever since.
Over the last year, distrust in brands has grown.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said, “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 comparison, Bunnings has seen a significant recovery in trust, from a low in the 12 months to October 2022, soaring to the largest absolute improvement in trust for any brand in that period.
Ms. Levine said, “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.”
Australians have spoken out about why they trust Bunnings, placing the company into a very strong position to regain the title of Australia’s most trusted brand, as soon as 2024.
One Aussie said, “They do what they say, provide a huge range of competitive-priced products, and complaints or returns are handled fairly and promptly.”
“They are no frills, and always provide down to earth advice. They price products reasonably, and have a great range. Their staff really seem to care about customers,” another commented.
“The staff are friendly and helpful, they’re often doing things for the community and always have Saturday sausage sizzles.”
“Their staff have good knowledge and expertise when it comes to home hardware I can rely on,” said another.
“Good price and people who know their jobs, willing to do the right thing for the customer not just the bottom dollar.”
“Equal opportunity employer, transparent pricing.”
Ms. Levine noted trust in Bunnings is the highest among people aged 35+. Not only are these older demographics homeowners, paying off a home, or interested in home renovations, they’re also the people who maintained their spending power, despite 13 interest rate increases since May last year.
“The focus Bunnings puts on delivering great customer service matched with excellent product knowledge and a huge range of hardware items at competitive prices are key factors in the soaring levels of trust for the company over the last year,” said Ms. Levine continued.
“As many Australians face rising cost of living pressures driven by high inflation, and a record setting series of interest rate increases, the reputation Bunnings has built over many years is paying off.”
“Many other prominent retailers are dealing with perceptions that they are ‘price-gouging’ and taking advantage of the current environment to raise their prices above the rate of inflation – but these issues are having only a minimal impact on Australia’s favourite hardware chain.”
The most trusted brands are still dominated by major retailers, supermarkets filling three of four top spots. Woolworths (No. 1), Coles (No. 3), and ALDI (No.4). Bunnings is in 2nd place, and Kmart is in fifth.
Myer and Toyota were two other brands improving their positions in the top ten. Myer has become 7th, and Toyota has become 8th.
Other brands to improve rankings include NRMA (11th), the ABC (15th), and ING (18th).
Optus remains the most distrusted brand in Australia, even before the outage in early November which led to former CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin being outed.
Other names near the top of the most distrusted brands include Facebook/Meta, Qantas, Medibank, and Harvey Norman. All four have faced significant scandals in recent years.
Also in the top ten most distrusted brands is Amazon, TikTok, and Twitter/X.
Michele Levine concluded, “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.”
