Waitrose "most recommended" brand in the Channel Islands

Tuesday 12 July 2022

Results from the latest Island Global Research (IGR) Brand Reputation Index has revealed that Waitrose is the most recommended brand in the Channel Islands.

Respondents were asked which organisations operating in their island they would be likely to recommend. Waitrose came out on top for retail and overall in both Guernsey and Jersey.

Islanders were given the choice of 75 selected brands across seven categories. 

Pictured: Waitrose was most recommended overall in the retail category in both Guernsey and Jersey. 

Islands was leader in both islands for Finance. In Guernsey, Ogier was the most recommended law firm, while Swoffers took the lead in Property. 

Le Mont Saint Garage was most recommended in motoring and Le Friquet won the leisure category. Guernsey Post was the front runner for island services.

Respondents were also asked to nominate small local brands which are not usually featured in the index. A short list of nominees will be drawn up and the autumn survey will include a vote for which small brand is the favourite. 

The data collection took place between 8 April and 18 May. The final sample included around 1,000 respondents from each island. 

Respondents assign a score from zero to 10 for how likely or unlikely they are to recommend a brand. 

The Brand Reputation Index “builds a picture” of how different brands are perceived by island residents. An index score is calculated for each organisation based on the responses. The relative performance of each organisation is then measured against others in the index. 

Pictured: Guernsey Post was most recommended in the island services category in Guernsey. 

“An overall score is calculated from all the responses given, helping brands to understand the extent to which their potential positive word of mouth outweighs their potential negative word of mouth,” said IGR. 

“Those in the middle of these two groups are usually satisfied but unenthusiastic, and they are considered ‘passive’ when it comes to their contribution towards word of mouth.” 

IGR said that the survey asking which businesses islanders would recommend is a “measure of customer loyalty”. 

“Primarily, it [the survey] helps an organisation to understand how strong word of mouth is for them. Something that, particularly in our islands, is critical for brand success. It also provides organisations with a sense of how well their brand is perceived, and is a very strong indicator of customer satisfaction. 

“Tracking scores over time, the reasons for them, and how this compares with competitors, has been proven to provide brands with insights that improve customer experience.”

The full results of the survey are available HERE