Lego Tops Reptrak Rankings As Reputation Shifts To Stakeholders

(MENAFN- PRovoke) BOSTON - Lego has once again ranked as the world's most reputable company, extending its run at No. 1 since 2023, as this year's Global RepTrak 100 highlights a broader shift in how corporate reputation is built and who controls it.

Even as Lego's products and services score dipped slightly, its overall reputation held steady. RepTrak attributes that resilience to a broad network of stakeholders - fans, educators and creators - who continue to advocate for the brand well beyond any single product cycle.

Reputation, the report argues, is increasingly“multiplayer,” shaped not just by companies but by employees, customers, communities and other stakeholders who co-create and carry corporate narratives.

After Lego, the top 10 most reputable companies are adidas, Samsung, Rolex, Sony, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Levi Strauss & Co., Barilla and Canon.

Some of those names will look familiar, but there's movement within the group. Adidas climbed seven places to No. 2, while Samsung rose nine spots to No. 3. Rolex held steady at No. 4, and Barilla broke into the top 10 at No. 9 after climbing 16 places.

Several companies that appeared in last year's top 10 - including Rolls-Royce, Harley-Davidson and Bosch - are not in this year's top tier, underscoring how much churn there can be even at the top.

Adidas' gains were concentrated in areas such as conduct, workplace and fairness in business - the kinds of factors that are increasingly shaped by stakeholder perception rather than brand-controlled messaging. Its use of collaborations and creator-driven communities, rather than relying solely on owned channels, lines up with those gains.

More broadly, the report points to a shift in what people care about.

For the first time in several years, products and services - long the strongest driver of reputation - edged down slightly. At the same time, conduct, citizenship and workplace all moved up, suggesting more weight is being placed on how companies behave, treat employees and show up in the world.

That's a change from 2025, when product quality, value and emotional connection - particularly among luxury brands - were still front and center.

Part of what's driving that shift is a changing communications landscape. RepTrak found that the effectiveness of traditional information channels declined across the board in 2026, even as overall reputation scores stayed near historic highs.

At the same time, generative AI shows up for the first time as its own channel - and already has outsized influence. It reaches about 10% of stakeholders but ranks seventh in impact, ahead of social media, traditional advertising and news media, because it delivers synthesized answers drawn from across the information ecosystem.

The upshot is that companies no longer fully control how their reputations take shape. As the report notes, the stakeholders organizations have long tried to influence are now increasingly doing the influencing themselves.

That shift is also showing up in behavior. Willingness to buy and recommend products dipped slightly in 2026, while willingness to invest increased - pointing to a growing divide between short-term purchasing decisions and longer-term confidence in companies.

Some companies are benefiting from that shift more than others. Nvidia debuted at No. 14, with its reputation driven largely by its developer community and the broader momentum around AI rather than traditional corporate communications infrastructure.

Others moved sharply in the opposite direction. Nike fell 28 places to No. 50, Harley-Davidson dropped 37 places to No. 41, and Spotify declined 54 places to No. 95, amid declines in key reputation measures.

Photos used with permission. ©2025 The LEGO Group.

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