spotted Famecount - a service which can aggregate brands on different online platforms and score them based on…well, some sort of patent pending wizadry.
It’s too easy to either attach yourself slavishly to these basic free sites or complete dismiss them based on their lack of meaningful analysis. What I think is interesting is the trends behind the stats and what the leader board says about online brand management.
Food & Drink dominate
A few years ago the top brands engaging online would’ve been Tech brands like Microsoft and Dell (still in the Top 20) but fast forward to July 2010 and the Top 5 of the list are FMCG brands specifically in the Food & Drink sector; Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Skittles, Red Bull, Oreo.
Number 6 is Whole Foods Market, while technically classed as Retail it still supports the overall Food & Drink trend.
Online brand management is ongoing
The Top 5 brand leaders change very little when you change the filter to ‘Fastest Growing’, meaning these brands are adding fans all the time. Is this because the companies have reached a tipping point? Or are these brands focusing on brand growth online?
Are ranking tools like this useful or damaging to an industry which already struggles to prove ROI for brands online?