Apple might be innovative, but when it comes to influence, Microsoft beats the competition (and 99 other brands).

The Redmond, Wash.-based tech behemoth took the title of Canada’s most influential brand in an Ipsos Reid online survey of 1,000 Canadians. The survey results were revealed at Advertising Week yesterday.

Ipsos Reid identified six dimensions that contribute to influence: leading edge, trustworthy, relevant, presence, corporate citizenship and engagement. Survey respondents were given a series of yes or no statements within each category and for each brand.

“Microsoft is trustworthy, very relevant and even after 35 years, continues to be leading edge,” said Steve Levy, president of Toronto-based Ipsos Reid. “The Microsoft Office suite has become the dominant business suite and the most widely used operating system in the world.”

In the survey, 46% of respondents agreed Microsoft is relevant to their lives, 44% buy/use today, 47% agreed it has forever changed the consumer landscape, 37% agreed it is innovative, and 48% agreed it has a strong future.

In total, 100 brands were evaluated. Rounding out the top 15 list are:
• Google
• President’s Choice
• Apple
• Walmart
• CBC
• Facebook
• Visa
• YouTube
• AirMiles
• IKEA
• Intel
• CTV
• Blackberry
• Tim Hortons

In second place, Google scored well in the “relevant,” “leading edge” and “trustworthy” dimensions, with 46% of respondents agreeing they buy/use it today, 38% agreeing it’s a trendsetter, and 60% agreeing it’s established.

“Whenever a company transcends the boundary of being a noun – Google the search engine company – to being a verb, as in I’ll Google that later, it really has to be a true measure of influence,” said Levy.

As for the number-three brand, “President’s Choice has revolutionized the way consumers look at private-label products, not only in this country but beyond,” said Levy.

“It’s a heavyweight when it comes to both relevance and the degree of trust that we place in it,” he added, with 54% of respondents agreeing they buy/use it today, 71% agreeing the brand is established and 54% agreeing it’s dependable.

“Nothing says trustworthy more than a company that can bring you a chocolate chip cookie and a banking service.”

As for Apple, the company is seen as innovative (60%), original (53%) and has forever changed the consumer landscape (53%). “Apple has most certainly established itself as a leader in the category and through this leadership, they’ve generated a high degree of trust,” said Levy.

“They are the first to introduce revolutionary products, making them unique and different and with that comes a sense of comfort and some pride among their customers. Some might say there’s sheer magic when using Apple products, an aura if you like, that you don’t get from other products.”