Innocent smooths its way to top the 2012 Social Brands 100 list
Innocent, the purveyors of smoothies and healthy snacks have emerged as the top performing social media brand – according to the 2012 Social Brands 100 list.
Compiled by social agency Headstream this crowdsourced list ranks 300 nominated brands in order of their proliferation on social media and the judgement of a panel including Twitter’s UK head of sales, Bruce Daisley.
Edging out Starbucks to claim the number one spot Innocent were feted for their sense of humour and light touch which differentiates their packaging, design and narrative in the social sphere from their corporate rivals.
This is despite the fact that it is 58% owned by Coca-Cola.
Last year’s winner, Dell, crashed this year to a more modest 56th slot – highlighting the ephemeral and whimsical nature of time spent in the social media limelight.
Charities and not for profit organisations also made a strong showing, accounting for a quarter of the top 10 brands whilst Google + is now home 49% of brands, the same number as Pinterest despite being just 10 months old.
Other notable highlights include a 4% decline in foursquare users since 2011, indicating that the geo-location service is flatlining.
Joe McEwan, communities manager, at Innocent, said: “We’ve always wanted to build actual relationships with our drinkers. It started with talking to people on our packaging, inviting them to call the bananaphone, meeting them at events we put on, and so on. It naturally extended into digital and then social media as those channels evolved.”
Steve Sponder, Head of Agency at Headstream, said: “It feels like not a day goes by without a new ‘game changing’ platform or technology appearing, and it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that it is people who are at the heart of social media. The brands in this ranking have found some of the best ways so far to become part of the ‘people’s media’ in a transparent and compelling way.”
1. Innocent
2. Starbucks
3. Giffgaff
4. Cancer Research UK
5. British Red Cross
6. ARkive
7. ASOS
8. Cadbury
9. Met Office
10. The Ellen DeGeneres Show