MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NetBase, the leading social business platform, today announced the results of an in-depth study of social media perceptions of the world’s most recognized luxury brands. The study shows the upward and downward movement of many familiar high-end European names, from Chanel to Rolex to Mercedes-Benz, with Louis Vuitton holding steady in the top spot, and Prada and Rolex showing the biggest drops in the top 10. But the study also shows Apple — a consumer electronics manufacturer — moving rapidly into the #2 position worldwide, with a stunning 194% increase in social media mentions and consumers declaring it a luxury brand in the study period. Perhaps most noteworthy is that Apple is the only US brand in the global top 10.
The study, conducted in October 2014, applied NetBase’s proprietary social analytics technology to two full years of brand conversations across social networks, review sites, blogs, forums, and news sites worldwide, between September 2012 and September 2014. NetBase measured and analyzed not only mentions, globally and broken down for the US and the UK, but also the concept of Brand Passion and Net Sentiment, to determine which retail brands the global consumer considers luxury names. NetBase’s patented Brand Passion Index™ reflects the degree of passion that a brand mention inspires — a critical metric for luxury brands that thrive on emotional attachment in support of premium price.
Among the results of the NetBase study:
- Louis Vuitton is the #1 luxury brand worldwide as measured by social media analytics — parent company LVMH is #9;
- Apple is now #2 among luxury brands worldwide, up from #9 position one year ago, and its leading product, the iPhone, is #7;
- Some of the strongest consumer passion is seen with Michael Kors and Tory Burch;
- Mercedes-Benz is the leading automaker on the global list, in the #12 position;
- The biggest drop among the top 45 brands is by Rolex (down 86%), followed by Nike (down 19%), and then UGG (down 18%).
“Nothing is more important in high-end retailing than understanding how brands are perceived by consumers,” said Elizabeth Canon, Founder of the FC Tech Group, a digital consulting and executive education company, and organizer of the FashionForward conference. “Those perceptions can change very rapidly, and brand managers, advertisers, and retailers need tools to monitor and analyze them equally rapidly.”
“Social media has emerged as one of the most meaningful ways of identifying and responding to trends impacting consumer brands, in real time and at scale,” added Pernille Bruun-Jensen, Chief Marketing Officer of NetBase. “This study shows the strong passion consumers have for luxury brands — revealing who the movers and shakers are in the luxury category as a whole — covering emotions, attitude, and behavior globally.”
Bruun-Jensen is presenting a detailed look at the NetBase luxury brand study at FashionForward in New York City today.
An Executive Summary of the Luxury Brands study is available here.
About NetBase
NetBase is the award-winning real-time social business platform that global companies use to run brands, build businesses and connect with consumers every second. Billions of social media posts are processed daily for actionable business insights for marketing, research, customer service, sales, PR, and product innovation leaders. NetBase is a trusted partner to Tory Burch, Ralph Lauren, Guess, Target Bose, Sony, Condé Nast, Live Nation, and many other amazing brands and agencies.
Learn more at www.netbase.com or @NetBase. Get real-time brand insights with LIVE Pulse™
