iPhone Continues Three-Year Reign, Consumer Electronics Dominate in Vitrue's Annual Rankings of Most Social Brands

ATLANTA—Apple’s iPhone continued its reign earning the top spot again for the     third-straight year followed by an impressive showing by consumer     electronic brands. The Vitrue     100, which annually ranks the most social brands, has iPhone # 1     followed by Blackberry (2), Disney (3), Android (4) and iPad (5)      rounding out the top five. The Vitrue 100 measures a brand’s “social     mentions” by analyzing online conversations on a daily basis across     social networks, blogs, micro-blogs, photo and video sharing sites. The     rankings represent the sheer volume of social mentions, not sentiment.      This is the third annual Vitrue 100. Click here for current and past     rankings: http://www.vitrue.com/smi.

“Our third annual Vitrue 100 rankings revealed some surprising and     interesting things about some of the world’s most iconic brands, as well     as newer brands, and their effective use of social media,” said Reggie     Bradford, CEO of Vitrue. “iPhone taking the top spot is most likely is     due to continued and sustained buzz and headlines the strong brand     generated during 2010, with many articles, blogs and consumer mentions.      It is certainly impressive that Apple dominates the list with six     brands—iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple and iTunes—and four of those     brands are in the top 15. And it was great to see some new brands this     year like Android, making a monster debut at No. 4 and Blackberry moving     up 13 spots. 60% of the top 20 on the list are consumer electronics     brands, which shows a strong dominance of that industry in social     mentions.”

Additional thoughts from Bradford on The Vitrue 100:

• Consumer Electronic brands had the largest share with 30% of the total       list; Fashion/Retail, 20%; Auto/Transportation, 17%; Media/Broadcast,      12%; Sports, 5%; Online, 5%; Food/Beverage, 4%; Quick Serve       Restaurants, 4%; Financial, 2%; and Toys/Amusement, 1%.
• Blackberry generated tremendous buzz and news headlines throughout       2010 and moved up 13 spots in the Vitrue 100 to #2. Blackberry is a       strong, well-known brand, and it is especially engrained in the       business/enterprise community as it seems for the past decade everyone       had a Blackberry device. However, 2010 continued the rise and       popularity of smart phones like iPhone and Android-enabled       handhelds…and these phones are encroaching on Blackberry’s       historically dominant market share of the business world. Blackberry       also has many popular smart phones that created buzz and consumers       love.
• Google’s Android made an impressive debut at #4. With the rise in       Android-enabled mobile/smart phones and a big advertising push,      Android certainly generated social buzz throughout 2010. Headlines       also included stories about Android encroaching on Blackberry as well       as gaining on iPhone from a market share perspective.
• AT&T tied for the biggest jumper moving up 45 spots to #32. According       to an Advertising Age article this summer, AT&T executives said       they began addressing customer service mentions of AT&T on social       sites by growing a team of five people to 19 people dedicated to       managing Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. AT&T decided to take customer       service right to the customers on social nets. AT&T took quick and       smart actions to help their customers achieve great service through       social channels. We see this as a growing trend for all businesses,      especially communication/technology companies.
• Financial brands were big gainers in social media this year. Visa was       tied for second-biggest mover jumping 45 spots to #42. Visa was a       title sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The global nature of the       event made social an efficient and effective medium for awareness       building. The company placed significant resources into social, mainly       Facebook and You Tube. Visa developed numerous Facebook and YouTube       campaigns — like “Go Fans” and “VISA Match Planner” — that generated       tremendous buzz worldwide around the world’s biggest sporting event.      And they made all their promotions and social efforts available in       multiple languages. Also, American Express joins the Vitrue 100 list       for the first time at #96 with a variety of social media efforts in       2010. Notably, Small Business Saturday is an American Express       brainchild to encourage consumers to support their local small businesses on the Saturday after Black Friday and       throughout the holiday season. American Express launched the Small       Business Saturday Facebook Page in November to get the word out       about the initiative and the page garnered around 1.2 million fans       very quickly. American Express donated $1 million to the Girls, Inc       organization after achieving that fan milestone.
• The Gap shows up on the Vitrue 100 at #91 with three significant       social buzz moments in 2010: the first national brand retailer to       utilize a Groupon in August, The Gap logo change in October, and using       Facebook Places to distribute Deals in November.
• Sports continue to have a strong showing as people are passionate and       very social about their teams and leagues. And, of course, teams and       leagues have become much more savvy and aware of the power of social       media and thus helping to push their social buzz. However “sports” as       a category did experience lower rankings than in previous years: NBA,      #18 (dropped 13 spots); NFL, #36 (dropped 24 spots); NHL, #65 (dropped       19 spots); MLB, #68 (dropped 39 spots); and NASCAR, #73 (dropped 30       spots).

Some powerhouse technology brands were omitted from the list as they     provide the backbone of many social networks. These include Google,      YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo. The Vitrue 100 is measuring     companies that are using the technology, not those who are the     technology. For more information, including methodology behind the     rankings, please visit www.vitrue.com/smi.

About Vitrue: Vitrue is the leading provider of social media     publishing software, offering software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool to help     businesses harness the marketing potential of social media. Anchored by     its industry-leading Vitrue Social Relationship Management (SRM)      Platform, Vitrue works with marketers of all sizes, from global brands     to local businesses, as well as agencies, to deliver a comprehensive     solution to message, manage, measure and maximize interactions across     Facebook and Twitter. Headquartered in Atlanta with offices in New York,      Chicago, Cincinnati and San Francisco, Vitrue is a Facebook “Preferred     Developer Consultant” and has received numerous industry accolades     including the Red Herring Global 100 and OnMedia 100. For more     information, visit vitrue.com.