LONDON — Nvidia is the brand that has handled its reputation best over the past year, while Boeing has had the worst communications, according to this year’s Influence 100, PRovoke Media’s annual list of the most powerful in-house communicators in the world.

In our survey of the 2024 cohort, when we asked them to name the companies they think have best managed their brand communications and corporate reputation over the past year, Nvidia was the clear leader. As one of our Influence 100 said: “Nvidia has probably been the only company that has been able to effectively deliver value on the back of the AI trend.”

Coming a close second was Microsoft, perennially in the top handful of brands mentioned by our Influence 100 over the years, while in third place was Lego, also an oft-named brand in the best reputation and communications list.

There were also multiple positive namechecks for Singapore Airlines, post its handling of the recent sudden turbulence crisis, Walmart, Tata, and Meta, which as one respondent noted “has done a very good job of repositioning Mark Zuckerberg as a positive leader and force for good”.

One other headline-hitting multimillion dollar conglomerate was also mentioned: there were several votes for Taylor Swift as having handled her communications and brand reputation most effectively over the past year.

When we asked our Influence 100 which companies had managed their comms and reputation worst over the past year, Boeing was far and away the most mentioned brand, after a series of crises in recent months related to multiple safety issues.

After Twitter enjoyed years on the best brand comms list that stopped abruptly after PR-detractor Elon Musk took ownership, X was once again high up on the worst comms list; combined with multiple mentions of its sister company Tesla, Musk’s firms were not far behind Boeing.

There were also multiple negative mentions for brewer Anheuser-Busch, which featured highly last year and has continued to feel the financial and reputational fallout from after its botched handling of a partnership with a trans influencer.

When we asked the Influence 100 which PR agency they most admired, Edelman was the clear leader for the fifth year running, apparently still undented by ongoing controversy over its work for oil companies and Saudi Arabia.

Coming in second place, as last year – but with a much narrower margin this year – was strategic comms powerhouse Brunswick. The only other agencies to get multiple mentions were Weber Shandwick, Teneo, FGS and India’s AdFactors.

Out of the Influence 100’s list of nominees for best communicator among world leaders this year, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenkskyy again came out with the most votes. As one respondent noted, he is the epitome of “clarity and resilience” in leadership and communications terms, as Russia’s invasion stretched into its third year.

Several other world political leaders received multiple votes, including Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, former Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, who smoothly handed over leadership after 20 years in power, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, new UK prime minister Keir Starmer, and French far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Two business leaders were also mentioned, exactly mirroring the two companies deemed above to have been best at managing their comms and reputations: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

On the list of the worst communicators among the world’s leaders, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin – maybe surprisingly – received hardly any votes, after being in undisputed first place last year. Instead, US president Joe Biden – ahead of stepping down as Democrat nominee – was far and away the leader judged as the worst communicator in recent months, although this seems to be with some regret; as one of our influencers noted, he is the “biggest disappointment”.

In second place was former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, who resoundingly lost the recent general election after the Conservative Party being in power for 14 years, and was widely criticized for his comms in the run up to and during the election campaign.

As well as asking our Influence 100 which PR agencies they admire, we asked them to think about the future of agencies, and the biggest challenges and need for change they see for PR agencies. The responses were a mix of cautious optimism and recognition of significant challenges, ranging from the integration and impact of AI, to the role of PR agencies as strategic partners for brands, and the need for agencies to deliver return on investment.

All the Influence 100’s comments on the future of PR agencies can be found here.

The full Influence 100 report, including all 100 profiles and Q&As can be found here, plus:

Still to come: the Rising Stars and Crossover Stars of 2023; and the earned media campaigns admired by this year’s cohort.