Allegations of inappropriate behavior recently leveled against Herman Cain seem to be impacting consumer perception of his former company, Godfather’s Pizza. More interestingly, however, is that the brand perception changes are playing out along party lines.
Although Cain has not been the CEO for Godfather’s Pizza for 15 years, his prominent association to the brand, which has been replayed in the media since he began his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, has had a definite impact on the political perception of Godfather’s.
Before Cain’s May announcement to run for President, Godfather’s Pizza was on more or less on equal perception tracking with all three parties.
Since then, political party perception of the brand took three distinct routes: it has soared with Republicans, remained neutral for Independents, and trended mildly downward with Democrats.
When the news cycle kicked in about allegations of inappropriate behavior from Cain during his National Restaurant Association tenure, Republican perception of Godfather’s Pizza was not significantly impacted, while perception among Independents and Democrats took sharp drops.
Godfather’s Pizza was measured using YouGov BrandIndex’s flagship Index score, an overall brand health measurement that averages the company’s quality, value, reputation, impression, satisfaction, and willingness to recommend scores.
YouGov BrandIndex measurement scores range from 100 to -100 and are compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback.
