STAMFORD, Conn.-AT&T Corp. jumped from fifth to second place in Corporate Branding L.L.C.’s latest annual ranking of telecommunications companies, the firm said. Motorola Inc. retained the study’s top spot, while GTE Corp. was bumped from second to third.
“Acquisitions and other aggressive moves by CEO Michael Armstrong to revitalize AT&T as a company are revitalizing AT&T as a brand,” said Corporate Branding Chief Executive Officer James R. Gregory.
For the study, Corporate Branding said it compiled “Corporate Brand Scores,” which measure how favorably a company is to key business decision makers-a group defined as vice presidents or higher at the top 20 percent of U.S. corporations based on revenue.
The top five ranked companies, according to Corporate Branding, consist of Motorola, AT&T, GTE, MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp., in that order.
Gregory said Motorola has retained its top ranking through consistent brand building.
“While nearly every other company in the study has tried to change its brand in some fashion over the past few years, Motorola has reaped the benefits of consistency in its branding efforts,” Gregory said.
