The Nutella conundrum: why measuring brand popularity is such a tough nut to crack
Face it, we’re all suckers for a good list, a league table that ranks THE BIGGEST, the best, the most important. Marketers are no exception, of course, always trying to measure the ups and downs of the biggest/best/most important brands in our lives. The problem is the methodology to determine the best brand in the universe is questionable, at best. Now that we can measure Facebook fans and Twitter followers and YouTube subscribers can social media change all this? One firm thinks it can.
And the winner is…Starbucks! Wait… Coca-Cola? This can’t be right.
Famecount.com, a new popularity meter for social media brand prowess, earlier this week prominently declared Starbucks the “World’s Most Popular Social Media Consumer Brand,” ahead of Coca-Cola and Skittles. Its methodology? Count up all the Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube followers for each brand and put the number on a big list. Believable?
Why not? We’ve done it too to give a reasonable measure of a brand’s popularity, contrasting it against Millward Brown’s reputable annual ranking. Our No. 1? Coca-Cola.
And, of course, the most cited brand ranking of all comes courtesy of Interbrand, which started this brand value measurement business long before Twitter, Facebook and YouTube were born. Its top brand? Here too, it’s Coca-Cola.
Interbrand has a formula that counts revenues plus a more mysterious “five-step discounted Economic Value Added” methodology, which takes into account “brand earnings” plus more difficult-to-measure metrics like its trend-setting ability, and how protected it is from pesky upstarts.
Very scientific, but we still don’t know how much credence Interbrand and Millward Brown give to a brand’s Twitter, Facebook and YouTube supporters, which makes Famecount’s social media index a nice change. We include here its whole list:
Where does Famecount differ from the Interbrand list? Only one brand shows up on both lists’ Top 10: Coca-Cola. Could this mean that popularity doesn’t necessarily equate to big sales?
Before you answer that, we’d like to mention Nutella, the chocolate spread that has 3.6 million fans on Facebook that doesn’t make the list above. Why? Famecount deducts points because the followers are not part of an official company-managed Facebook page. It is fan-owned and fan-operated. Interbrand doesn’t rank Nutella either, probably because its sales don’t hit some kind of revenue threshold.
So who’s methodology is most comprehensive? One that puts fan support above all else to determine the biggest and best, or the Interbrand method that counts revenues first and leaves the soft metrics of popularity a mystery to the rest of us? Surely, it’s time for a type of mash-up that takes both methodologies into account. In the meantime, pass the Nutella.
Editor’s Note: If you want to learn more about social media best practice please join us at Social Media Conference, June 22. Members of our LinkedIn Group are eligible for a great discount.
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The Nutella syndrome: why measuring brand popularity is such a tough nut to crack http://ow.ly/17EVPe
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The Nutella syndrome: why measuring brand popularity is such a tough nut to crack http://ow.ly/1qAxTD
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The Nutella syndrome: why measuring brand popularity is tough http://bit.ly/bempIC #in
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The Nutella conundrum: why measuring brand popularity is such a tough nut to crack http://ow.ly/1qAxTD
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Interesting, I hadn’t heard of Famecount yet. There are new metric solutions every day that are interesting and fun, but it is the methodology that is the most interesting when looking at the online reputation of a company.
Popularity might not necessarily equate to “big sales”, but that might not be the primary goal of certain brands’ online strategies. I would be interested to know why, though, Famecount deducts points for groups that are not “official” groups. Many groups and conversations online are unsponsored, but that is what can help spread word of mouth – natural, organic conversations that aren’t sponsored, that come directly from fans..
The Nutella Conundrum: Why measuring brand popularity is such a tough nut to crack- http://bit.ly/bbTlAr #socialmedia (via @socialinfluence)
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Thanks for the comment, Michelle, and nicely put. We too are baffled. Oftentimes, there is as much passion on a fan-built site as there is on the branded, corporate page. The Nutella paradox is one we point to often. A lot of brands would love such fervent fans who take the time to build such a vibrant community. Nutella gets high marks in our book, but then we’re a bit biased. Have you ever tried a Nutella calzone? ‘Nuff said.
Face it, we’re all suckers for a good list, a league table that ranks THE BIGGEST, the best, the most important. M… http://bit.ly/9r9Uxa
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@jezhunt
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I did an analysis of the number of fans on Facebook compared to the BrandZ equity data that powers Millward Brown’s Top 100 Most Valuable Brands Ranking. Sure enough Starbucks had the most fans (Coca-Cola being a close runner up). Within its category the best predictor of how many fans a brand will have is how many people are Bonded to it (have strong affection for it). However, there are also a number of strong niche players which also attract a strong following, e.g. Red Bull. I would suggest Nutella falls into the latter category.
See here for more detail: http://www.mb-blog.com/index.php/2010/01/25/why-big-is-beautiful-in-the-world-of-social-media/
Why do social media rankings not correlate with the rankings of brand value? Because the value of a fan differs dramatically from category to category and so does the importance of a strong brand. Coca-Cola relies on its brand for around 50% of earnings, GE far less.
The Nutella conundrum: why measuring brand popularity is such a tough nut to crack http://ow.ly/1qAxTD
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[...] Why Measuring Brand Popularity Is a Tough Nut To Crack [...]
The Nutella conundrum: why measuring brand popularity is such a tough nut to crack http://ow.ly/1WYU5
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The Nutella conundrum: why measuring brand popularity is such a tough nut to crack http://bit.ly/bceyfk via @AddToAny
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A Top Brand on FB: The Nutella conundrum: why measuring brand popularity is such a tough nut to crack http://ow.ly/1qAxTD
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Da liegt Reichweite brach: Mit > 3 Mio. Fans zählt Nutella zu den FB-Top-Ten. Doch kein einziger Beitrag ist corporate http://bit.ly/9ZC1G5
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Da liegt Reichweite brach: Mit > 3 Mio. Fans zählt #Nutella zu den FB-Top-Ten. Doch kein einziger Beitrag ist corporate http://bit.ly/9ZC1G5
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The Nutella conundrum: why measuring brand popularity is such a tough nut to crack http://bit.ly/bceyfk via @socialinfluence
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The Nutella Story . Un-official fan page: is it as valuable as official fan page? http://tinyurl.com/26q4d8p
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The Nutella Story . Un-official fan page: is it as valuable as official fan page? http://tinyurl.com/26q4d8p #socialmedia
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The Nutella conundrum: why measuring brand popularity is such a tough nut to crack http://ow.ly/1qAxTD
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[...] in the next few hours, according to the social media measurement website Famecount. And, since the last time we looked in early June, Starbucks has grown by a whopping 2.5 [...]
[...] Nutella’s grassroots popularity for you. Back in June we wrote a story called “The Nutella Conundrum” that questioned the way brands normally rate their social media performance. Why was Nutella [...]
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