Social media usage 

Social media usage and brand loyalty varies country by country. For example, the most used social media tools for April '08 were:

socialmediausage.jpg

This shows that the differences in social media usage need to be understood for each region and that, as a result, every conversation needs to be tailored to appeal to the chosen target market, with the appropriate messages.

The social media ‘boom' shows no sign of slowing - in fact, over a relatively short period of time, it has even overtaken some of the more traditional forms of communication. With the rise of mobile internet adding an extra dimension, brands need to ensure they start engaging with these rapidly evolving communities sooner rather than later, or risk missing out altogether.

What makes up social media?

According to Wikipedia, social media describes the Online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives.

 Social media includes:

• Blogs
• Microblogging (Twitter)
• Message boards
• Forums
• Social networks (MySpace or Facebook)
• Video sharing (You Tube)
• Picture sharing (Flickr)
• Podcasts
• Vidcasts
• Wikis
• Groups
• Virtual worlds or communities (Second life)

Brands in social media study

immediate future ‘brands in social media' report 2008

The purpose of the IF study is to understand how brands are performing within social media. This is the second year that the report has been compiled and means that comparisons with last year's results can now be drawn - including how certain brands have evolved (or stagnated).

Interbrand Top 100

The Interbrand Top 100 is one of the top published business rankings in the world.  To qualify for inclusion in the report, brands are required to pass rigorous criteria. Those brands that qualify are then evaluated by three core components:

• Financial analysis - forecasted current and future revenue specifically attributable to the brand
• Role of brand analysis - a measure of how the brand influences customer demand at the point of purchase
• Brand strength score - a benchmark of the brand's ability to secure ongoing customer demand (loyalty, repurchase, retention)

It is worth noting that each component is converted into a monetary figure to provide an estimated overall brand asset value.

Millward Brown BrandZ

This year, the research also details comparisons taken from the Millward Brown BrandZ research. By referencing this study alongside the Interbrand Top 100, a broader and more accurate brand evaluation can be carried out.

The BrandZ research is calculated from a combination of detailed analysis of a given brand's financial data and some primary research findings complied from a consumer base of over one million customers (conducted to represent the consumer perception of that brand). Again, there are three main components to the study, which allow a brand's value to be measured:

• Intangible earnings - intangible corporate earnings allocated to each brand by country, based on company and analyst reports, industry studies, revenue estimates, etc.
• Brand contribution - portion of intangible earnings attributable to brand. Directly driven by BrandDynamics^TM Loyalty Pyramid and Category Segmentation collected within the BrandZ study
• Brand multiple - brand earnings multiple. Calculated based on market valuations, brand growth potential and Voltage^TM (as measured by BrandDynamics ^TM)

The BrandZ study also calculates the degree to which brand equity plays a role in generating earnings (brand contribution) and how much the brand is expected to grow in the short term (brand momentum).

While consumer perception and demand play a role in both reports, the consumer's online voice is ignored. However, this would appear to be an oversight as brand conversations can prove a very relevant metric of brand perceptions. Often regarded as the most uninhibited focus group, online consumer chatter can reveal key insights into brand awareness, as well as its perceived reputation and equity.

This report, designed to provoke discussion, is not a full data analysis, but rather a snapshot of brands' share of voice in social media. Coupled with a review of sentiment (positive, neutral or negative in tone), it takes the global brands from the Interbrand and the Millward Brown BrandZ Top 100 and compares their ranking in the two studies against their (IF evaluated) performance in the online conversation[1].

[1] UPS, ING and Philips were all disregarded from the study as the brand names are too generic and therefore provide unreliable figures, e.g. Philips is a common name.