Desjardins, Rona bounce back in reputation survey as Quebecers warm to familiar names during pandemic

Desjardins jumped 27 points

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Call it the Big Pardon.

That’s how Léger Marketing Inc. vice-president Christian Bourque describes the 27-point jump enjoyed by financial co-operative Desjardins in his firm’s annual reputation ranking this year.

It’s the largest jump in the Quebec segment of the survey and it follows a disgruntled employee’s theft of personal data, which affected millions of the lender’s customers, in 2019.

“In a matter of 18 months they’ve recouped everything they had lost,” Bourque said by phone. “Again, it’s one of those old stable companies that people are rewarding.”

Léger’s annual Quebec survey ranks the reputations of hundreds of companies familiar to Quebecers.

The rankings are based on “reputation scores,” which Léger calculates by taking the percentage of respondents that had a good opinion of the company and subtracting the percentage that had a bad opinion, with the maximum possible score being 100.

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In a matter of 18 months they’ve recouped everything they had lost

Léger Marketing Inc. vice-president Christian Bourque

This year, in the context of the pandemic, the provincial poll’s top 10 was filled with familiar names, including Canadian Tire — which took top spot both in Quebec and nationally — and other stalwarts such as drugstore chain Groupe Jean Coutu Inc., grocers IGA and Metro, as well as Kellogg, Sony and Samsung.

“They’re mostly … old-timer retailers that people appreciate,” Bourque said. “The same with home renovation, places that were open while everything else was closed are stuck in there. People are rewarding these types of businesses.”

DIY supplier Rona fell in the rankings after being acquired by U.S. competitor Lowes in 2016, then saw its score boosted this year by the second-most (tied with Hydro Quebec in a 20-point jump), rising on the list to 15th.

“Again, probably due to the context of the pandemic, people are saying, ‘Good ol’ Rona is still there,’” Bourque said.

Still, some familiar names such as Bombardier, Canada Post and Cirque du Soleil were among the biggest decliners. Slackening orders for the airplane builder, surging delivery pressures for the courier and pandemic-induced bankruptcy for the circus weighed on their reputations.

“It’s more or less the year of the big Canadian and traditional companies that seem to have made it through OK and people are giving them the thumbs up,” Bourque said.

Financial Post