AirAsia, RapidKL and Prudential among the most reputable M’sian brands fighting COVID-19

Isentia, APAC’s leading media intelligence and insights specialist has released a list of ‘Most Reputable Brands of Malaysia fighting the COVID-19’. 

The reputation rankings report uncovers how the netizens in Malaysia perceive brands across Strategy, Culture, Delivery – the three pillars of Isentia’s Reputation Framework. 

AirAsia emerged as the most reputable company, followed by RapidKL & Prudential. Malindo Air, Malaysia Airlines, ERL took fourth, fifth, and sixth spots while Astro Radio, MASkargo, Top Glove, and AIA finished at seven, eight, nine, and 10.

AirAsia demonstrated honourable culture by being honest and ethical through its effort in offering credit account redemption and refunds for flights to the mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao, following the suspension of flights to the countries.

The Strategy pillar was also high for AirAsia as the budget airline was praised for its pioneer move of sending volunteers in a special flight as part of the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) mission to bring back Malaysians who were stranded in China.

Apart from offering refunds and flying back Malaysians to their home country, AirAsia’s help in transporting medical gloves to the healthcare workers in Wuhan also contributed to the airline’s top ranking among Malaysia’s most reputable brands in the coronavirus outbreak.

RapidKL displayed a strong culture by taking extra measures, including compulsory health checks on bus captains to reduce the risk of exposure to coronavirus to protect the well-being of its employees and guests. The temperature check initiatives, face masks for the front-line staff, and availability of hand-sanitisers at various touchpoints were praised by netizens.

Rapid Rail also played public service announcements in LRT, MRT and Monorail regarding the danger of coronavirus and the precautionary steps to minimise the risks, besides publishing infographics and updates on its social media network.

Prudential ranked third with strong Strategy and Delivery pillars. The insurance provider gained netizens’ approval by offering a special coverage of RM5,000 for at no additional cost and medical coverage extension for hospitalisation due to coronavirus.

Eligible Prudential policyholders who have been diagnosed with coronavirus in February will receive a lump-sum payout of RM5,000, in addition to existing benefits offered by Prudential’s medical insurance policies or certificates with no requirement for registration.

Pulse by Prudential also partnered with Astro Radio, which secured the
seventh spot on the list, to hand out free “Kami Care Protection Packs” consisting face masks and Dettol hand sanitizer, among other items, to the public.

Prashant Saxena, Head of Insights for Asia, Isentia mentioned “Brands are working closely with the government to fight the COVID-19 outbreak. Well-intended strategy executed with the support of resilient company culture to deliver benefits to the consumers goes a long way in improving the
reputation of these brands.”

For this study, six weeks’ worth of data was harvested and processed from a total of 4k+ Malaysia-based public social media channels. Posts were tagged into three reputation pillars and its fifteen sub-attributes through machine learning, contextual assessments and qualitative deep dives.