Microsoft tops the Conscious Brands 100, Wolff Olins and Hall & Partners’ inaugural list of the world’s 100 most conscious brands.
The Conscious Brands 100 was created in light of increased consumer demand for brands not only to act more responsibly (to be ethical, sustainable and prepared to take a stand on moral and social issues) but to be more responsive to peoples’ identities, moods and cultures.
Headspace comes in second on the global list, followed by YouTube, Pfizer, Google and Netflix respectively.
The ranking defines conscious brands as those that are responsive to people’s needs, moods and culture and that also take responsibility by helping people, communities and the planet.
The report shows that the pandemic has changed what we value, with consumers prioritizing mental health, communication, convenience, human connection and entertainment.
The list scores the world’s leading brands according to 6 key criteria: empathy, reform, multisensory, collectivism and morality through a global survey of 9,000 consumers rating 223 brands in the UK, US, and China.
Brands that surprised by performing poorly on the index included Twitter and Facebook, both of whom scored poorly on moral performance (with particularly low scores for being brands ‘guided by strong beliefs’), H&M, despite its own Conscious drive and Deliveroo, which even though it saw an upsurge in usage during the pandemic failed to make the UK top 100, scoring poorly for ‘inspires a sense of community’ and ‘speaks up for what is right and wrong in the world’.
The report demonstrates that brands can rapidly build global fame and relevance if they do it in the right way, such as top scorers Headspace, Oatly, Glossier, Beyond Meat, and Tesla, which ranked 17 globally.
Categories that performed best were tech, entertainment and physical and mental health. Meanwhile, poorly performing categories were airlines; mobility; fashion; luxury; alcohol and finance. Brands that bucked the trend in these categories included Uniqlo, Levi’s and Patagonia in fashion and Tesla in mobility.