Based on an analysis of billions of online conversations, social media intelligence company Infegy ranked 800 brands to determine which were the world’s 50 most popular brands in 2014. By analyzing billions of online conversations from 2015, Infegy based its ranking on the volume of conversations per brand, the overall positive or negative sentiment for each brand, levels of positive purchase intent, and the topics people reference when talking about brands.
According to the study, Google is the most popular brand of 2014 followed by Twitter, Facebook, Apple, and Tumblr. This is the second year in a row that Google has taken the top spot.
However, it was Disney that got the most positive brand sentiment (86%) in social conversations during 2014 followed by Nordstrom (83%), Mercedes-Benz (81%), Adidas (81%), and BMW (81%). On the other hand, CNN got the most negative brand sentiment in social conversations (52%) of the top 50 most popular brands followed by Fox (52%), Soundcloud (51%), Tumblr (46%), and NBC International (43%).
In terms of purchase intent, FitBit was highest at 36% followed by Amazon.com (23%), Google (22%), PayPal (18%), and Playstation (14%). The brands that ranked lowest of the top 50 most popular brands of 2014 in terms of purchase intent were Soundcloud (0%), CNN (2%), MTV (3%), BBC (3%), and NBA (3%).
The biggest jump in ranking was experienced by Chipotle, which moved up to 46th place (a 13-spot increase) while Chevrolet experienced the biggest fall of the top 50 to 30th place (down from 20th place the prior year).
Five new brands made it onto the list of the 50 most popular brands in 2014. They are Flappy Bird (#39), NBC International (#42), Toyota (#44), Intel (#45), and Fox (#48).
The Infegy data also provides statistics related to brand popularity by gender. According to the report, MTV, Starbucks, Chipotle, BMW, and Flappy Bird ranked highest among women. For men, MLB (Major League Baseball), NBA (National Basketball Association), NFL (National Football League), Playstation, and XBox ranked highest.
Technology brands make up 70% of the top 10 most popular brands of 2014 according to the Infegy study. Those top 10 most popular brands are:
- Apple
- Tumblr
- Disney
- Microsoft
- BMW
- YouTube
- Nike
You can follow the link at the beginning of this article to view the full list of the top 50 most popular brands as well as to see additional data related to brand sentiment, purchase intent, and gender.
Image: Stephanie Hofschlaeger
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
