Jeff Bezos
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. (GeekWire File Photo)

You love Amazon. Admit it.

OK, you don’t have to admit it here, but enough people out there appreciate what the Seattle retail giant is doing to once again help the company land at the top of the Harris Poll on corporate reputation.

It’s the second straight year that Amazon has topped the list of America’s 100 most visible companies, and the ninth straight year that Amazon has been in the top 10.

Click to enlarge. (Harris Poll Graphic)

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos praised the news in an internal email, below, obtained by GeekWire on Wednesday. “Congratulations, Amazonians,” Bezos said in the subject line before crediting customer obsession and more for the recognition.

I’m excited to report that for the second straight year, customers ranked Amazon #1 in the annual Harris Poll on corporate reputation. Harris surveys more than 23,000 people across six corporate reputation dimensions: Social Responsibility, Emotional Appeal, Products and Services, Vision and Leadership, Financial Performance, and Workplace Environment. We hit a new high-water mark for the 18-year-old survey with a record score of 86.27 and ranked in the top 10 for the ninth consecutive year. Also, on Monday, Fast Company ranked Amazon #1 on its World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2017 list. These accolades are a direct result of this team’s obsession over customers, pioneering spirit, commitment to operational excellence and willingness to lean into bold bets.

Kudos and congrats to the whole team!

Jeff

Harris Poll singled out Amazon’s “strong performance and integration into our lives” and said those factors continue to earn the company an “excellent” reputation for the seventh consecutive year. “Defying any single sector, Amazon is unmatched when it comes to emotional appeal,” the report said.

Of the six dimensions mentioned by Bezos above, Amazon ranked first in four of them. It was third in the categories social responsibility and workplace environment.

Harris Poll
(Harris Poll Graphic)

Grocery chains Wegmans and Publix Super Markets rounded out the top three on the list, while tech companies such as Apple (5), Google (8), Netflix (18) and Microsoft (20) made the top 20. Facebook came in at No. 56.

Nordstrom (45) bested fellow Seattle-based corporation Starbucks (55). And T-Mobile CEO John Legere has something new to tweet about as the Bellevue, Wash.-based wireless carrier’s spot at No. 69 ranked it higher than rivals Verizon (71), AT&T (75) and Sprint (85).

Tesla Motors was a notable new entry to the most visible list and made a strong showing at No. 9. The report said, “Tesla’s reputation is not only strong but unique. While most in the Top 10 are familiar and accessible, Tesla is highly regarded despite relatively limited brand experience — it remains aspirational. The strength of Tesla’s reputation and visibility of its CEO are in a position to influence the direction of auto technology.”

Wells Fargo (99) and Japanese auto parts maker Takata (100) were the only two companies to receive “critical” reputation scores below the benchmark of 50 points.

Because politics seems to color everything these days, Harris Poll also looked at which companies’ reputations do best among Democrats and Republicans. Amazon, for instance, had the top-ranked reputation score among Democrats. For Republicans, Chick-fil-A was No. 1.

Harris Poll
(Harris Poll Graphic)
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