2025 Global RepTrak® 100 Most Reputable Companies: Brand Blog

Brand and reputation serve as the twin pillars of a company's public persona. They’re inextricably woven into an organization's identity but have a distinct individual purpose. The essence of a brand lies in its identity that a company projects out to the world. It's an internal manifestation of an organization's vision, values, personality, and communication. In contrast, reputation is the external reflection of how effectively a company lives up to its brand promise in the eyes of stakeholders.

Together, brand and reputation form a dynamic ecosystem that drives trust, loyalty, and value — that’s why we measure them both. RepTrak’s Brand Score is formed from considerations of a company’s genuineness, consistency, and if they stand out from the crowd.

For the second consecutive year, Brand Scores have hit an all-time high — climbing to a Strong 73.9 (▲0.8 points). After some fluctuation, branding efforts seem to be connecting more successfully with stakeholders, suggesting that companies are striking the right balance between identity, messaging, and action. Last year, brands successfully tapped into the cultural phenomenon of Barbie and world tours from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. While 2024’s data confirmed that brands who authentically aligned with cultural narratives saw reputational benefits, what has continued to drive that momentum?

Chief Client Advisor, Bradley Hecht, answers that question for us. “After years of overpromising and underdelivering, companies have 'returned to their core.’ Organizations have increasingly looked to identify stakeholder priorities and link them to the organization's core competencies. As a result, more and more stakeholders believe they share similar values and beliefs with these organizations, and when that happens, brand perception improves — and so does reputation.”

In previous years, companies struggled with brand missteps, whether through tone-deaf marketing, controversial partnerships, or a failure to connect with cultural moments authentically. This year’s record-high Brand Score indicates a course correction — businesses are taking control of their brand narratives rather than reacting to public sentiment after the fact.

Hecht sees this shift as part of a broader movement wherein companies are “focusing on sustainable, authentic, long-term brand and reputation building, rather than short-lived marketing tactics. As companies increasingly prioritize this strategy, the most successful firms understand both what drives stakeholder behavior and how that connects to the company’s purpose.”

Hecht’s big piece of advice: STAY WITH IT.

“Building your corporate brand is a long-term endeavor, not merely a campaign. It demands years of consistent effort from your entire organization to authentically fulfill your corporate purpose. Leadership, particularly the CEO and the executive team, must be unified, vocal, and steadfast in their commitment to this mission.”

This year’s Brand Score shows that stakeholders are responding positively to companies that have refined their brand identities, prioritized consistency, and aligned with stakeholder values. The most reputable brands are no longer chasing trends — they’re shaping them.

Read the full 2025 Global RepTrak 100 report for more corporate reputation insight beyond brand.  

Read the full report.