Taking a long view secures success
Vikki Chowney,
Editor,
Reputation Online
The biggest surprise in Yomego’s 50 Top Brands in Social Media is that the top spot hasn’t gone to either of the most
likely candidates: Apple and Google. In almost every other league table that tracks consumer perception of brand equity,
these two are seen to be the most respected and credible. Even Interbrand ranks them highly.
Ebay’s leap to the top is interesting, therefore. Perhaps it’s because of the popularity of sharing news of bargains with
friends via social media; maybe it’s something more integral to the site’s openness in terms of how it conducts itself
online. Either way, the fact that Ebay’s reach exceeds that of Steve Jobs’ mighty empire is astonishing.
Scores aside, when you look at the top 20 brands, it’s quite difficult to tell them apart. The success of almost all of them is
not based on flashy creative or digital campaigns (although that’s not to say they haven’t done those), but is rooted in a
consistent and longer-term approach to social media. It’s the integration between various online channels, great
products, proactive engagement with customers and a sense of responding to the desires of fans.
At the other end of the spectrum we see brands like Smirnoff failing to hit the mark, as discussed in the brand’s case
study on page 8. Brands that haven’t done so well have simply missed the opportunity to connect the dots between very
loyal fans and strengthening a relationship with them online. Visa, for instance, could reap a lot of benefit by creating
something similar to Dell’s Ideastorm, the site set up to crowdsource ideas for product development.
There’s obviously still a disconnect between what some of the biggest brands in the world are doing offline and what’s
happening in social media. While some companies are pushing forward, those missing the point are still lagging behind.
Maybe this will be the year we see the gap close slightly, or perhaps it’ll carry on expanding as it has done so far.