Princess Cruises named Australia’s most-trusted cruise brand as COVID-19 inquiry continues
Amid an ongoing special commission of inquiry and criminal investigation into its vessel, the Ruby Princess, Princess Cruises has today been named the most trusted brand in its category, as voted on by more than 3,000 Australian consumers in the annual Trusted Brand Survey.
The survey, in its 21st year, was conducted in January, weeks before the Ruby Princess arrived in Sydney on 8 March. It was then docked in Port Kembla, near Wollongong, following the outbreak linked to the vessel – 600 people have tested positive to COVID-19 and 21 died from the virus after travelling on the the Ruby Princess, 10% of Australian cases – but began its journey back to its home port of Bermuda last week.
Princess Cruises took out a full page newspaper ad to address the issues, with president Jan Swartz saying: “Princess welcomes the inquiry and appreciates the Premier’s [Gladys Berejiklian’s] statement of an independent inquiry that will leave no stone unturned.”
The survey results appear exclusively in Reader’s Digest which said the results are a “truly accurate measurement of Australian consumer sentiment”. Mumbrella understands that while the data was collected in January, the accompanying report was completed in recent weeks.
“While COVID-19 has certainly changed the marketplace, and the way we go about being consumers, other things remain the same when it comes to our relationships with brands,” said editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest, Louise Waterson.
“For the brands themselves, trust matters when it comes to weathering a crisis, and ultimately trust is built on the traditional foundations of quality, consistency, honesty and delivering on your promise.
“In terms of this current situation, with this pandemic, that also means getting proactive and reaching out to your customers like never before. It’s very much about maintaining a relationship with that particular individual.”
Princess Cruises won in its category
Band-Aid was named 2020’s most trusted brand this year, prevailing over 2019 winner, Dettol.
Band-Aid came second last year behind Dettol, but despite the win this year, the latter brand topped the ‘first aid’ category, with Band-Aid receiving a ‘highly commended’ recognition.
Band-Aid is the most trusted brand in 2020
Overall though, Dettol slid to be considered the third most-trusted brand, behind battery company Energizer.
Colgate, Dyson, Cadbury, Qantas, Dulux, Finish, and Sanitarium Weet-Bix rounded out the top 10, while Vegemite was once again named the country’s most iconic brand.
The survey also revealed that Guide Dogs is the most trusted local charity, and doctors the most trusted professionals.
“We may not like mowing the lawn, doing the vacuuming, or washing up – but we want to use a product we know will help us get things done right,” Reader’s Digest noted in a statement.
ING jumped ahead of the Big 4 to be named most-trusted bank, Toyota won again in the car category, and Woolworths came out on top in the supermarket race.
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But will the cruise industry recover from this catastrophe?
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I’m questioning the methodology and why there aren’t any demographic breakdowns of the 3000 surveyed. Given it is via Readers Digest wouldn’t that skew it to an older age group?
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