...in New Zealand...

...in a Reader's Digest poll

"Kiwi icon Wattie’s [Food manufacturer - parent company Heinz] has been voted New Zealand’s number one trusted brand [out of 133 brands surveyed] in the annual Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Survey, released Monday with the July issue of Reader’s Digest New Zealand.
Runner-up to Wattie's was Toyota, with Sony third and winning both the electronics categories and the computer categories.

OVERALL MOST TRUSTED BRANDS

(Last year's place in brackets)

1. Wattie’s (9)
2. Toyota (4)
3. Sony (3)
4. Tip Top  [Ice Cream](2)
5. Whittaker’s [Chocolate](na)
6. Panadol [brand of pain killer, active ingredient paracetamol](5)
7. Fisher & Paykel [Whiteware](7)
8. Panasonic (9)
9. Colgate (8)
10. New Zealand Post (13)

Other category winners included:

Beauty and Cosmetics: Gillette
Credit Cards: Visa
Fast food: Subway
Health and wellbeing: Panadol [Interesting given recent news that the drug (paracetamol) has been subject to overdosing in toddlers necessitating liver transplants]

The 2010 Reader’s Digest Trust Survey was commissioned to independent research firm The Digital Edge, which surveyed a representative sample of 500 New Zealand adults aged over 18 years old on their trust of 133 brands across 15 categories."

There you go. Being among the most trusted brands in a country of merely 4 million people is hardly going to get the world or shareholders excited though.

Personally I wouldn't put Sony in my overall top 3. For computers I'd actually rate Dell higher than Sony (I own a Dell PC, and if/when I replace it's probably gonna be with another Dell though I'm highly price driven with PCs, so I will be doing some intense shopping around).

I don't know what I'd rate as top for electronics I don't really have an opinion on that, I think Samsung, Panasonic, LG and Philips are all pretty reputable and reliable. Sanyo has kinda fallen off the radar a bit, but they have traditionally been pretty good too.

I would love to know more about this "survey" before declaring it valid.

Sometimes, it is a measure of who is included and how the questions are asked.

Mike from Morgantown

Who still remembers when old Piedmont Airlines finished second (to Delta) in a mid-1980s survey of business travelers. This was remarkable because Piedmont was not on the list included with the survey -- it was a "write in"

Sony is a very trusted brand, it actually does make sense. I mean my 53" is a Bravia, my old CRT was a Sony, my stereo is a Sony... yeah I could go on. Its especially true of the likely target market of Readers Digest for whom Sony was the go to brand for high quality electronics in the 80s and 90s.

BTW have you got a new look Dick Smith near you? The refit does look really nice and the store layout is excellent. Im tempted to go back there just to try out all the cool stuff. It makes the Sony Style store look pitiful by comparison that I saw up at Silvia park not more than a few days ago.

In regards to PCs you better be getting a gaming 'capable' PC when you upgrade or there'll be hell to pay.

This is a really odd list of stuff. 2 electronics companies, a chocolate company, a newspaper. a toothpaste company and about 5 companies I have never head of.

I have to lol at Toyota sitting at number two, even if it is New Zealand.

Why?

i buy sony products and they all still work today....

my playstation and walkman still work lol...

not to mention the tvs , stereo , earpieces etc...

heres hoping the 3DTV is worth buying xD

sony used to be very good, but globalization most things are made in china now, supervision isn't the same. but that the way everycompany had to compete.

in china they aim to produce alot, ignoring quality abit, they are not bad. but its quantity over quality.

this is true for all companies not just sony. generally doing a good design can avoid that from happening.

The whole brake failure thing? With all the recalls and stuff...

Well their good reputation is still intact where we are. Infact they have the best reputations of any car manufacturer because of their positive contributions to society here.