Maruti tops NM Incite India's Social Media Brand Equity Ranking

IPL acquires 3 positions among top 20 Brands that have been most successful in creating social media brand equity in India

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | August 7, 2012

Maruti Suzuki ranks number one in NM Incite India's Q2 2012 Social Media Brand Equity Ranking (SMBER) list of brands that have been most successful in creating social media brand equity in India. NM Incite India produces the SMBER index brands based on the volume of associated buzz on social media sites and public sentiment surrounding the brand in the online world of India.

Maruti Suzuki has taken the lead owing to its strong performance across social media channels and networks, pushing Samsung Mobile to second place. The brand enjoys strong sentiment and high volumes of conversation on auto forums that include blogs, boards, forums, and social media sites Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

“It's pertinent to note the synergy between the offline and online reputation of Maruti Suzuki. Strong offline brand equity helps boost online conversations and sentiment. There is strong brand advocacy online, with users engaging across social channels about brand initiatives like price changes and product launches. The company also leverages such conversations in its own robust social media strategy” said Prashant Singh, MD – Media, Nielsen India.

Ranking second on the list for India is mobile manufacturer Samsung Mobile, Nokia, Brand IPL & coffee shop chain Café Coffee Day round off the top five.

Interestingly, Indian Premier League (2012) is a new entry in the list. The brand 'IPL' itself is at fourth place, followed by teams Mumbai Indians (7th) and Kolkata Knight Riders (16th). While IPL is a new entry, its inclusion in the top 20 is driven by its superior performance on YouTube compared to all other brands. This led to high engagement levels on social media in the lead up to the IPL for the year.

The latest Social Media Brand Equity Ranking analyzed a total of 462 brands across 32 categories in India. The analysis covers social media buzz for 12 months from 1st April, 2011 to 31st March, 2012 and incorporates all the qualitative and quantitative metrics that define a brand's social media presence. This is an online approach that builds on proprietary methodology used by Nielsen across the global for measuring brand equity and brand health in the off-line world.

“In this round of analyzing social media conversations for the SMBER index, we have increased the number of brands and added new categories, such as food products and sports. It is interesting to note the performance of these brands as they are now extensively using online platforms to interact with their customers across India. The SMBER index answers critical questions for these brands based on engagement with “owned” social media platforms, as well as the “earned” consumer conversations across platforms,” says Singh. “Our robust ranking approach will provide answers for brand marketers concerning performance against competitors, or analyzing social media efforts beyond counting followers.”

Top 20 Brands: NMIncite India's Social Media Brand Equity Ranking for India April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2012:

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