J & J retains pharma's top brand title

According to a brand study from Corporate Branding, LLC, a Stamford, CT-based brand strategy and communications firm, Johnson & Johnson retained its title as the pharmaceutical industry's strongest brand for 1999. Pharmacia & Upjohn and Bristol-Myers Squibb took second and third respectively, holding onto their 1998 spots.

"The pharmaceutical industry is extremely brand sensitive because trust and goodwill play such important roles in the product purchase decision," said Corporate Branding CEO James Gregory. "In that regard, J&J enjoys a substantial branding advantage over its key competitors."

For the study, Corporate Branding compiled Corporate Brand Power™ scores for publicly traded pharmaceutical companies with substantial operations in the United States. Corporate Brand Power gauges how familiar and favorable a company is to key decision-makers, a group defined as vice presidents or higher at the top 20% of U.S. corporations based on revenue. For the pharmaceutical industry study, Corporate Branding conducted 400 interviews over the course of ten months. Data on company familiarity and favorability was compiled, and companies were scored for Corporate Brand Power on a scale of one to 100.

Corporate Branding's research, conducted during 1999, focused on brands that were independent at the start of the year and does not reflect recently merged brands or pending mergers. PR