Fame & Fortune: How Successful Companies Build Winning Reputations

Chapter 5. The Roots of Fame

	We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
	--HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

Johnson & Johnson is well known as a U.S.-based global consumer healthcare products company. As Chapter 3, “Who’s Tops—and Who’s Not?” showed, the company had repeatedly topped RQ surveys conducted in the United States from 1999 to 2001. Similarly, in 2001 Lego won out in Denmark, Ferrari in Italy, Ahold in the Netherlands, and Microsoft in Australia. What do companies that are as highly regarded as these by consumers have in common? Do they do things differently than their rivals? Are they better at relating to consumers in those countries? If so, why? And better yet, what do they ...