Vitrue’s Social List: Positive Or Negative?
For the second time in a row, iPhone has been named the most social brand in Vitrue’s top 100 of social brands. The first time was in 2008 and now it turns out iPhone has taken the no. 1 spot again for 2009.
The runners-up are Disney, CNN, MTV and NBA, a pretty random top 5. So what are Vitrue’s criteria for a brand to be social enough for their top 100?
According to Vitrue, the most social brand is the brand that is shared the most on social networks, in blogs and through videos and pictures. They have invented a Social Media Index (SMI) that counts these sharings. After some calculations the top 100 takes form. A brand that has made a (to some) remarkable jump up the line is Adidas. I believe that Adidas has caused a lot of buzz with the social programs they have launched in 2009. Remember that Vitrue’s list is not about the social implementation of a brand but about the sharing through social of a brand.
Buzz tracking (which is basically what Vitrue does) is a great way to know what people are saying about your brand. This can be positive as well as negative though. When explaining how the list is created, nothing is mentioned about the social sharing being one of recommendation or one of disparagement. In theory this means iPhone can be right up there on the top spot because there have been a lot of complaints. This is not hard to believe when you keep in mind AT&T’s problems and the exploding phones iPhone has been coping with this year.
So isn’t it better for Vitrue to create two lists? One about positive social sharing and one about negative social sharing? I think it would be really interesting to see which brands make the two lists and in what spots they end up. Or would two lists like this just cause confusion and inaccuracy because people are generally more inclined to complain than compliment?
The entire list can be found here and here.
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Seems like some publishers have embraced social and are moving up the list: Disney, CNN, MTV…
On the other hand, we see many social publishers encountering severe problems how to monetize the social trend and online video (see all the measures Rupert Murdoch is taking).
Cheers
Igor