AND THE WINNER IS….THE TOP 100 TRUSTED BRANDS SURVEY WINNERS REVEALED

After an exhaustive and some would say, intensive online survey process, INFOLINK | BPN in conjunction with Architecture & Design has finalised the results of its Trusted Brands 2018 survey and revealed Australia’s best brands in the architecture, building, construction, and design industries.

With some 6,000 votes counted, Weathertex beat over 600 other participating brands to come up on top for the second consecutive survey.

Specialists in a range of exterior wall panels, Weathertex ticks all the boxes when it comes to Trust.

This win is by all measures, a true validation of Weathertex, its products, and also its philosophy as a company. With a history dating back to 1939, this is also probably why Weathertex is the preferred cladding manufacturer by many builders, architects and designers all over the world.

The runner up in the Top 100 Trusted Brands survey was Dulux, a company that is also wellknown to many in the architecture, building, construction and design space.

According to its website, Dulux helps consumers to imagine and create better places and spaces in which to live and work – an ethos that was instrumental in getting the company such a high ranking in the survey.

Rounding out the top three was Austrian cabinet company Blum, which says it has a “motivation to perfect motion,” and whose “goal is to be a trusted and future-oriented partner”.

According to Architecture & Design editor Branko Miletic, “The number 1 spot once again was taken up by Weathertex, which shows that applying initiatives such as third party certification, participating in the Declare Label database initiative and receiving a Greentag Platinum certification with a Greenrate Level A for their products actually does make a discernible difference to the market.”

“Customers in our industry are quite savvy and well-informed and they tend to respond very positively to companies that try and do the right thing in regards to the environment and wider society.”

This was also reflected in the Trusted Brands Survey, which set out to uncover the drivers behind trustworthiness while also helping to define trust as something based on three key pillars: Quality, Consciousness, and Candour.

The results indicate that of these three pillars, Consciousness – how a brand demonstrates social, safety, and environmental responsibility – is a particular area in which brands can gain a competitive advantage.

Reflecting the importance of building trust over time, the top 10 positions in the 2018 survey were dominated by iconic brands like Dulux, Colorbond Steel, James Hardie, Laminex, and USG Boral.

Other brands that came out on top include Kingspan Insulation, which took out top honours in the Insulation category for the 5th consecutive survey and finished at number 7th overall.

The results came after the online audiences of Architecture & Design and Indesign cast votes for their favourite brands by allocating a maximum of 10 votes to 10 different nominated brands between 26 September and 2 November 2018.

Companies offering products or services were nominated for recognition of their innovation, application, or quality in one of 30 categories.