Those are just some of the conclusions of the European Trusted Brands survey carried out by Readers’ Digest for 2010. The magazine surveyed 32,000 people in 16 countries, whose names were drawn from their own formidable database. The respondents were asked to rank the brand they trust the most in a series of categories:

Categories Belgium
Car VW
Mobile phone Nokia
Mobile phone network Proximus
Travel agent Neckermann
Bank KBC
Credit card Visa
Insurance company Axa
Internet Service Provider Telenet
Petrol retailer Total
Pain relief Dafalgan
Cold remedy Vick's
Cosmetic Nivea
Skin care Nivea
Soap powder Dash
Breakfast cereal Kellogg's

The most striking result is Telenet’s capture of 44% of the total votes for the most trusted ISP. The company only operates in Flanders, which accounted for roughly half of all votes, meaning it scored a massive 80% in the region. Over the last 10 years, Telenet and Belgacom have jockeyed for the top spot.

All in all, Belgians are fairly faithful to their favourite brands. VW has dominated the car category for the last seven years, apart from a brief flirtation with Opel in 2005. Miele and HP are unshakable, as are Nokia, Canon, Neckermann, Axa and Vick’s. KBC came to the fore this year after a long reign by Fortis.

Total appeared from nowhere in the petrol category, following years of competition between Shell and Esso. Dafalgan has been in the top spot in pain relief since 2003, when it took over from Nurofen.

Soap powder shows the most brand fidelity of all products. Each country has its favourite one and sticks to it. Over the last decade, consumers have been faithful in 11 European countries, including Austria (Persil), Belgium (Dash), France (Ariel), the Netherlands (Ariel) and Portugal (Skip).

Yet no brand is as trusted in all of Europe as Nivea, topping the skin care category in every single country and the cosmetic category in seven.

www.rdtrustedbrands.com