May 8, 2009

Picking the "Most Social" Brands

Social media is often heralded as the new frontier of communication. That begs the question, Which brands are doing the best to exploit the social media for their own purposes? And the answer to that question, according to social media company Vitrue, comes in the form of its first ever ranking of the automotive industry's most social brands. The study, designed to capture a brand's share of voice across the ever-growing and influential social media Web, found that Ford was No. 1, and, if that’s not surprise enough, Lincoln was No. 2.

The rankings utilized Vitrue’s proprietary Social Media Index (SMI) to track and measure the brands’ “chatter” during this year’s first quarter across the social Web, including photo- and video-sharing sites, social networks like Facebook and MySpace, microblogs like Twitter and the general blogosphere.

“We strongly believe that the most successful and innovative automotive brands going forward will embrace social media as a foundational communication vehicle to connect with their consumers,” said Reggie Bradford, CEO of Vitrue. “Consumers will play the most important role in development of this next generation of the automotive industry. Car companies must look to social media as a more influential, effective and efficient way to start a dialogue with their consumers.”

Ford’s top ranking might come as a surprise since the young-skewing social media environment may be expected to favor imports. But brands like Ford are very much in the mainstream in terms of consumers wanting to see them thrive in this marketplace, said Bradford.

“Ford is well-positioned to continue to grow their social presence to reach, communicate and engage consumers to better understand their needs,” Bradford added. “Social media provides the environment for consumers to drive innovation forward by letting their voices be heard, and brands that are firmly rooted in the social Web will succeed by being able to harness this tremendous power of insight and endorsement.”

Below is a list of the Vitrue top 20 social auto brands:
1. Ford
2. Lincoln
3. GM
4. Honda
5. BMW
6. Mercedes
7. Dodge
8. Ferrari
9. Toyota
10. Suzuki
11. Jeep
12. Nissan
13. Cadillac
14. Audi
15. Porsche
16. Kia
17. Subaru
18. Chrysler
19. Volvo
20. Chevrolet