It’s not easy being a luxury brand, the most recent NetBase Brand Passion Report reveals. Consumer attitudes about luxury brands can shift drastically year-to-year, and the proof is in the rankings.
For the year that ended August 2014, the top luxury brand in the world was Louis Vuitton, which rose from second the year prior. However, previous top luxury brand Rolex fell to eighth; third-ranked Gucci dropped to sixth; seventh-ranked Prada fell to eleventh; and tenth-ranked Coach dropped to fifteen.
Meanwhile, Apple rose to second from ninth; Chanel jumped to third from sixth; iPhone increased to seventh from twelfth; and Dior rose from thirteenth to tenth.
The biggest rise on the list came from Wild Swans, ranked 212 the prior year and thirteenth this year.
To come up with its listing, the social intelligence company sweeps the Internet, examining millions of social mentions, billions of impressions and hundreds of thousands of unique authored articles.
Beyond the listings, the report offers up some key questions that brands should find out the answers to. Among them: How strongly do your customers really feel when it comes to your brand? Are they fervently adoring? Somewhat indifferent?
“The level of passion is an especially important success factor when it comes to luxury brands,” NetBase says. “Consumer purchases are highly emotional; the more passionate the consumer is about a brand, the less that consumer relies on price as a decision criteria.”
The report says 54% of the most influential voices in the luxury brand category are female, compared to 46% male. And the top 7 global luxury brand influencers are The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Mashable, Huffington Post, Rolling Stone, TechCrunch and British singer and TV presenter Lily Allen.
The Luxury Daily is ranked as the most active blog about luxury brands. The report says the most talked about luxury brands on Luxury Daily in order are: Porsche, Gucci, Christie’s, Christie’s Watch Shop, Fairmont, Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Marriott.
The media outlets that fuel luxury brand conversations most globally (in order) are Twitter, Reuters, Google, Facebook, Bain & Company, BBC, Bloomberg, Associated Press, YouTube and CNN. In the U.S. they are Twitter, Associated Press, Reuters, Google, Bain & Company, Facebook, Bloomberg, YouTube, The Wall Street Journal and CNN.
The report also offers 10 social tips for luxury brands.
- Know what you consumers are talking about and where they share or get information.
- Obtain accurate insights on the Net Sentiment of your consumer, historically and today. That includes finding out answers to questions such as: When do they like what you do? And When do they complain and why?
- Know your followers and build out your follower and fan base. Get a clear view of what they talk about and what they like. Discover new ideas for content and partnerships from them to elevate the brand. Use social testimonial advertising to promote these ambassadors of the brand to a wider consumer base.
- Know whom your VIP influencers are and connect with them.
- Know more about your category and your competitors to stay ahead of the game. If you only track our own brand, you miss out on 90% of the conversation. Smart marketers use social listening to capitalize on category insights and to track competitors to learn their strengths and weaknesses.
- Assess how different social channels are working for you.
- Track launches, events and campaigns in real time.
- Get a grip on consumer emotions and find out how passionate consumers are about your brand compared to your competitors.
- Be ready to detect a risky situation early and take action.
- Drive one source of truth across the entire business. Share all the social information gathered across all departments of the business all the way up to the CEO.
