Reputation Is the New Currency: Nigerian Brands That Defined 2025
P+ Measurement Services Releases 2025 Industry Media Reputation Report
P+ Measurement Services, Nigeria’s leading independent media intelligence consultancy, has released its 2025 Industry Media Reputation Report, revealing that corporate reputation has emerged as a decisive business asset, rivaling financial performance and market share in shaping public trust.
The report analyzed thousands of print and online news reports from 2025, covering 29 commercial banks, 13 insurance companies, five e-hailing platforms, and four telecommunications operators, to evaluate how corporate actions influenced public perception. Key factors shaping reputation included rising operational costs, currency pressures, regulatory scrutiny, labour relations, and service reliability.
“Reputation is no longer a soft outcome of publicity. It is a measurable business asset shaped by corporate behaviour, governance quality, customer experience, and crisis response,” said Tumininu Balogun, Senior Analyst at P+ Measurement Services.
She added, “For more than a decade, we have been at the forefront of media intelligence in Nigeria. Our commitment is to ensure PR and communication professionals have access to reliable data and actionable insight, enabling truly data-driven decisions beyond intuition.”
E-Hailing: Driver Relations Redefine Reputation
The e-hailing sector showed clear shifts in reputation dynamics in 2025, largely driven by labour policies and platform economics.
- Positive reputation leaders: inDrive Nigeria (39%), Bolt Nigeria (32%), LagRide (17%), Uber Nigeria (11%), Rida (1%). inDrive’s lead came after its media-covered decision to reduce driver commission to 0.1% during peak hours in Abuja, while Bolt gained coverage for deploying electric tricycles in Lagos.
- Negative reputation: Bolt (40%), Uber (29%), inDrive (20%), LagRide (8%), Rida (3%), mostly linked to driver protests, strike threats, and platform reliability concerns.
The report highlights that how platforms treat drivers now affects reputation as much as rider experience.
Banking: Profitability vs. Governance Risk
Among commercial banks, Stanbic IBTC led positive reputation with 26%, thanks to recognition as KPMG’s top retail bank. Zenith Bank (22%) benefited from dividend payout coverage, while Fidelity Bank (19%), UBA (17%), and FirstBank (16%) gained visibility through education initiatives, digital upgrades, and branch automation projects.
However, reputational exposure remained high: GTCO (28%), FirstBank (26%), FCMB (18%), UBA and Ecobank (14%), primarily due to legal disputes, fraud investigations, and customer controversies.
The report emphasizes that strong earnings and digital innovation strengthen reputation, but governance failures can quickly erode it.
Insurance: Financial Stability and Data Protection Drive Trust
In the insurance sector, AXA Mansard led positive reputation share (36%), followed by Leadway Assurance (29%), AIICO (16%), NEM Insurance (11%), and SanlamAllianz (8%).
AXA Mansard also faced the highest negative exposure (68%) due to reports of a significant decline in pre-tax profit. Other insurers included AIICO (18%), Leadway (12%), and NEM (2%), mainly linked to regulatory matters and data protection concerns, including customer data breaches.
The findings suggest that financial resilience and cybersecurity posture are now as critical to reputation as product offerings.
Telecommunications: Investment Meets Public Expectation
MTN Nigeria led positive reputation share with 47%, driven by infrastructure expansion and innovation campaigns. Glo (28%), Airtel Nigeria (16%), and T2 (formerly 9mobile) (9%) also gained visibility, with T2 benefiting from rebranding coverage.
On the negative side: MTN (44%), T2 (31%), Glo (13%), Airtel (12%), influenced by service quality challenges and the Nigeria Labour Congress boycott directive.
The report concludes that while capital investment enhances visibility, long-term reputation depends on network reliability and customer experience.
Reputation: A Strategic Business Asset
Across all sectors, the report finds a consistent pattern: reputation closely follows corporate behaviour. Companies that demonstrated transparency, operational fairness, financial discipline, digital reliability, and customer focus built positive public trust. Those facing labour unrest, legal disputes, regulatory sanctions, data breaches, or service disruptions saw these issues immediately reflected in media coverage.
For brand owners, investors, regulators, and communication professionals, the message is clear: reputation is no longer managed only through messaging—it is measured, permanent, and increasingly central to business success.
