Prophet's Reputation Management Index

What Is Prophet's Reputation Management Index?

Prophet's Reputation Management Index (RPMI) was an index created by strategic brand and marketing consultancy Prophet, Inc. that measured corporate reputation. Businesses that scored 75 or more on the index qualified as reputation leaders, while those scoring under 50 received a failing grade in terms of reputation management. The index, which was announced in December 2009, was based on Prophet's first U.S. Reputation study.

In its U.S. Reputation Study, Prophet queried 4,300 consumers on how 130 leading businesses fared in terms of key reputation measures such as quality of products and services and their delivery. The survey revealed that less than 9% of U.S. consumers believe companies have strong reputations. The highest scores in the Reputation Management Index were earned by consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies such as Kellogg's, Kraft Foods, and General Mills.

Since 2015, the Reputation Management Index has been rebranded and is now known as the Brand Relevance Index (BMI).

How Prophet's Reputation Management Index Works

Prophet, Inc. is in the business of helping organizations grow better brands and businesses. They help their clients have a perspective on the value of the existing brand rankings that can speak directly to consumers and find out which brands are the most indispensable to their lives—the ones consumers simply cannot imagine living without.

Out of all the characteristics of a brand, the one that is necessary for its success is relevance. Brand “preference” and “differentiation” long ago ceased being central to the calculus of success because of the speed at which markets and customer needs change. According to Aaker's brand personality model, brand essence is at the core: to be relevant, brands have to create new subcategories and dominate them so no other alternatives are even considered.

According to data cited by Prophet, the revenue growth of the most relevant brands actually outperformed the S&P 500 average revenue growth by 230%. Moreover, these brands also outperformed EBIT growth by 1,040% over the past 10 years.

Prophet's Brand Relevance Index: 2019

Prophet's Reputation Management Index has been rebranded as its Brand Relevance Index, as of 2015. Companies from all industries that contribute materially to household expenditure in each respective market were included in the study. The latest report, published in 2019, surveyed 51,300 consumers in 33 industries about brands they couldn't live without.

Out of 699 brands, the results were:

1. Apple
2. Spotify
3. Android
4. Bose
5. Disney
6. KitchenAid
7. Amazon
8. Netflix
9. Pixar
10. Pinterest

For the fifth year, Apple retained its number one spot. According to Prophet, the five commonalities between these relevant companies include having a purpose that inspires, experiences that win, innovation for both the present and the future, tapping into the power of community, and engaging employees to grow the company.