The Top Brands in Social Media Report 2008

The impact of Online conversation on the Interbrand Top 100 global brand survey

Please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , including data tables, of the Brands in Social media Report

The immediate future (IF) ‘brands in social media' research document, now in its second year, looks to offer topline insight into the growing impact of social media and online conversation on leading brands. Using the Interbrand Top 100 and Millward Brown BrandZ rankings as reference points, the IF report represents a snapshot (accurate to June 2008) of online discussions, sentiment and visibility of some of the world's largest brands.

It is increasingly clear that the level of a brand's engagement with the ever growing online community is beginning to have a direct correlation with that brand's reputation. This document aims to explore how brands have addressed the growing presence and importance of consumers' opinions and how the birth of social media has forced brands to adapt (in response to such a rapidly evolving medium).

The Online Landscape

Social media is booming. Every day new statistics, white papers and articles appear discussing its continued growth. Independent market analyst Datamonitor has revealed how quickly the number of people participating in online social networking is growing: the UK currently leads Europe, in terms of membership, and is expected to Reach 27 million users - a threefold increase on today's figures - by 2012

Across the globe, consumers are more connected than ever before, thanks to easier internet access, the rise (and reduction) in price of broadband and an increase in home usage. With the continual development of tools to aid communication, including blogs, Social networks and photo/video sharing sites, this trend looks set to continue.

But what exactly is social media? The term reflects the sharing of information, experiences and opinions through a series of widely available, easy-to-use tools. Very simple, very public, very hard to ignore.

 “Social networking is really recommendation between people about the things that they are interested in and they like… this has stimulated people’s attention in terms of the importance of PR. The people who are going on these sites didn’t want to be monetised, they didn’t want to be advertised to, so again editorial communication is so powerful, they would rather be communities that can exchange views that are untarnished.” -Sir Martin Sorrell

Social media encourages the building of communities; Groups of people with common interests who are keen to interact with one another on matters important to them, from daily musings to very specific subject matter.

More importantly, anyone can participate in these communities. Finding a group and joining in the conversation is very easy thanks to the wide variety of online tools available (which facilitate the finding and sharing of information).

But what does that mean for brands? Quite simply, the balance of power has shifted - with control passing from the brands themselves to the consumers. Online audiences can choose the Content they want to view and are free to Comment on/share it with whomever they like, whenever they wish to do so. Brands must accept that they need to embrace this shift, rather than shy away from it, as this is a trend that looks set to continue.

But what does that mean for brands? Quite simply, the balance of power has shifted - with control passing from the brands themselves to the consumers. Online audiences can choose the content they want to view and are free to comment on/share it with whomever they like, whenever they wish to do so. Brands must accept that they need to embrace this shift, rather than shy away from it, as this is a trend that looks set to continue. 

Social Media Grows Up

According to VNU.net, nearly half of the online adult population around the world is a member of at least one networking site, with Facebook and MySpace between them housing over 170 million monthly active users.

Other social media activity is also continuing to grow at a frenetic pace. According to Wave3 research of active users:      

• 394m watch video clips online
• 346m read blogs
• 321m read personal blogs
• 307m visit a friend's social network page
• 303m share a video clip
• 272m manage a profile on a social network
• 248m upload photos
• 216m download video podcasts
• 215m download podcasts
• 184m start their own Blog 
• 83m upload a video clip
• 160m subscribe to an RSS feed

(According to Wave.3 Social Media Tracker - Universal McCann)

Blogging, and the reading of blogs, is now such a widespread activity it is impossible to ignore. Those who choose to do so are taking a risk, as people will talk about brands with or without that company's permission (in recent research, 34% of bloggers revealed they currently Post opinions about products and brands on their blog).  It is therefore vital to be part of those conversations, or even to initiate them (such as through a company blog, with 36% of online users stating that they think more positively about companies who actually run their own blog).

In Britain, users spend the majority of their time online on social media sites, spending four billion minutes on consumer generated content sites in April 2008 (up 47% year on year, according to Nielsen Research).

Content itself is also evolving, as users are no longer just logging on for relevant news. According to new research, 62% of people are more likely to trust and use online reviews written by fellow shoppers before making a purchase, whilst time spent on search sites has also increased by 13%, to 1.3 billion minutes[1]. This has led to an overall decrease in the amount of time spent on traditional news sites. 

[1] immediate future/Logan Tod/e-consultancy joint report April 2008