High hopes: UK pharma ranks highly when it comes to reputation

Abbvie, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk seens as most reputable pharma companies in the UK and industry as a whole ranked third most reputable by general public

AbbVie, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk topped the RepTrak ranking of the most reputable pharmaceutical companies in the UK. This was based on findings collected from 1,600 members of the UK general public.

The survey also found that feelings towards the pharmaceutical industry are significantly more favourable in the UK compared with many other global markets, including key European countries. It was found to be the third most reputable industry in the UK.

The top ten companies in the 2016 UK Pharma RepTrak, with strong reputations, are:

1.       AbbVie

2.       Sanofi

3.       Novo Nordisk

4.       Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD)

5.       Abbott Laboratories

6.       Allergan

7.       Bayer

8.       Astellas

9.       Bristol-Myers Squibb

10.    Shire

The RepTrak system measures a company’s ability to deliver on products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership, and performance.

AbbVie, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk lead the pharmaceutical category, with MSD and Sanofi showing major improvements on last year, and AbbVie taking the lead in its first year of measurement.

Giants Roche, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer are sitting at the bottom of the pack this year, with perceptions of GSK declining from ‘strong’ to ‘average’ over the last three years.

Interestingly, companies within the pharmaceutical industry have a better reputation in the UK than elsewhere in the world. Pharmaceutical companies in the UK have an average score of 72.8, while the average score globally is only 67.6; the US comes in at a close second with a score of 72.7.

The sector also ranks favourably as a whole in the UK. The sector has the third best reputation, beating eight others, due to strength across all seven rational dimensions of reputation.

The RepTrak study reveals that corporate narrative is more important than products for a pharma company’s reputation. The UK general public’s willingness to recommend a pharma company, speak about it positively and buy its products is predominantly driven by perceptions of the company (61%), vs. the products themselves (39%). Despite the importance the UK general public places on pharma companies’ governance, citizenship and leadership, only 50% are actually aware of what businesses are doing in these areas.

Kasper Ulf Nielsen, executive partner at Reputation Institute which carried out the survey, commented: “With perceptions of who you are as a company being such a huge driver of reputation, and the lack of understanding in the general public about what the individual companies stand for, the message is clear. The pharmaceutical companies should focus on engaging and telling their corporate story to put a human face on the companies behind the drugs.”

“The results in the UK demonstrate that pharmaceutical companies should not be afraid to tell their story. The levels of trust, admiration, and respect for who they are is strong among the general public, and they want to know more.”

Novo Nordisk, which came third in the UK Pharma RepTrak rankings, with a score of 77.6 has the best corporate social responsibility (CSR) score in the UK and has benefitted from sticking to its Triple Bottom Line business principle.

GlaxoSmithKline, has also invested heavily in a CSR campaign but is sitting down in fifteenth position with an ‘average’ score of 66.8. The GSK program has been focused around 23 forward-looking commitments across four areas of their responsible business approach, including health for all, behaviour in terms of improving access to healthcare for all, and providing a positive workplace. Nielsen commented: “The focus GSK has placed on improving its CSR perception is clearly yet to resonate with UK consumers. We see that more than 50% of the UK general public is uncertain as to whether they believe that GSK is as a good corporate citizen, that treats its employees well, and who is open and transparent about the way it does business.”

Reputation Institute’s research reveals that reputation drives business results. For pharmaceutical companies with an average reputation, only 20% would definitely recommend the company; this climbs to 31% if the reputation is strong, but increases to 79% if the reputation is excellent.

“The impact of reputation on the business is massive, which is why the leading companies in the world are managing this asset in a systematic way,” said Nielsen.