US: Michelin – brand health check as a new CEO takes over

US: Michelin – brand health check as a new CEO takes over

Shinmin Bali - November 15th, 2024

Michelin North America has a new CEO and President in Matthew Cabe who took over in October. In its journey to achieve greater growth, the company is looking to balance “customer centricity, financial results, respect for the environment and empowerment of our people.”

Using YouGov BrandIndex, which collects the views of the public on thousands of brands daily, we take a look at how the company’s brand health has fared in the recent past.

Since 2020, the tire manufacturer’s Index metric – which is an average of Impression, Value, Quality, Reputation, Satisfaction and Recommend scores – has seen its share of volatility. In January 2020, Michelin’s Index score was 25 which had risen to 28 by October 2021, only to slide back down to 24 in May 2022.

It was in November 2023 when the score reached a new high of 31 – which is also the score Michelin finds itself recording right now.

As is the case with many businesses, Michelin too has been focusing on its longer-term environmental ambitions. Is this a vision that’s finding resonance with Americans? We look at data around Purchase Intent – a metric which asks consumers from which brands would they be most likely to purchase – to understand answer this.

It should be heartening for the tire manufacturer to know that the intent to purchase from the brand among environmentally friendly Americans has risen over the years. In particular, this is true for Americans who agree with the statement that “we should all drive less to save the environment.” The score among this audience has risen from 2% in January 2020 to 4% in November 2024. It’s interesting to see a group that espouses driving less - or perhaps more mindfully for the sake of the environment - considering Michelin more in its purchase journey.

That’s perhaps indicative of long-term value alignment between a brand and this kind of consumer.

Photo by Carl Gelin on Unsplash

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Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Michelin’s Index score is an average of Impression, Value, Quality, Reputation, Satisfaction and Recommend scores and delivered as a net score between –100 and + 100. Michelin’s Purchase Intent is a metric which measures from which of these brands would you be most likely to purchase and is delivered as a percentage. For the Index metric, scores are based on an average daily sample size of 5,493 US adults between January 1, 2020 to November 10, 2024. For the Purchase Intent metric, scores are based on an average daily sample size of 1,728 US adults between January 1, 2020 and November 11, 2024.  Figures are based on a 12-week moving average.