'Organisational turmoil' hits Thomson Reuters brand value

The company ranks 44th in a list of the 100 best global brands. Interbrand cited a loss of market share to Bloomberg as well as some organisational turmoil as reasons for Thomson Reuters’ decline.

“Thomson Reuters continues to successfully align its brand and business strategies, but, the brand has faced significant hurdles over the past year,” Interbrand said. “Under volatile market conditions, rival Bloomberg thrived while Thomson Reuters lost market share. Specifically, Thomson Reuters Eikon, the flagship product of the Financial & Risk business, struggled to gain traction with customers. Its performance contributed to a revamped organizational structure, including the installation of CEO James C. Smith.”

Interbrand said that although the new management team had already refocused the company on its core competencies the brand’s lack of communication to the market regarding these changes (and in response to negative press) had influenced customer confidence. Thomson Reuters remained invested in building a well-organised and aligned portfolio across diverse business areas, however.

“What’s more, offerings in some of the brand’s key businesses, such as Legal and Tax & Accounting, lead their respective markets. Looking ahead, Thomson Reuters has an opportunity to assert influence and leadership through its ongoing commitment to corporate citizenship and its ‘customer first’ initiative – both within its Financial & Risk business and across the organization.”

Interbrand uses three criteria to value a brand. It measures the financial performance of branded products or services and it gauges the role of the brand in the purchase decision process as well as the overall strength of the brand.

Coca-Cola heads the latest list followed by Apple, IBM, Google and Microsoft. Thomson Reuters was sandwiched between Heineken and MasterCard. ■