Topshop brand perception hurt by Philip Green accusations

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 31, 2018

The accusations surrounding the behaviour of Arcadia boss Sir Philip Green have damaged the brand perception of the Topshop chain, according to a report.

Sir Philip has already said that the revelations about his alleged behaviour were “injuring his business”. And now YouGov data has shown that Topshop’s Buzz Score (whether consumers have heard something about a brand, and if so, if it was positive or negative) among the general public has declined from zero to -7.

The drop is even sharper among the store’s key 18-34 demographic with a fall from +14 to +3, City AM reported.
YouGov said that negative headlines around the executive in charge of a business don’t necessarily damage that business, but for Topshop, the sentiment appears to have declined very quickly following the revelations.

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“In this case, in the space of a few days Topshop’s Impression score among the general public has fallen from +7 to +2. Among women aged 18-34 its score has dropped from +25 to +20,” it said.

But the company is also being affected by long-term trends that have been affecting other Arcadia-owned chains too, the research and data specialist said.

The big issue “is the rise of fast-fashion online companies such as Boohoo and ASOS, which have successfully appealed to Topshop’s core demographic. Both brands have significantly higher Value scores than Topshop among women aged 18-34, for example,” it explained.

For this reason, YouGov expects Topshop to continue facing “huge challenges in the months ahead,” even if it emerges relatively unscathed from the latest problem.