Apple Wins Most Loved Brand in Europe and UK

Apple beats out major contenders including Google, Lego, Tesco, and BMW to claim the top spot on NetBase’s Brand Loveliest list.

According to the Brand Loveliest report released today by NetBase, a global social analytics platform, Apple is the most loved brand in the United Kingdom and Europe, while it dominates social conversation. The top five words used by consumers to express said affinity were love, best, great, perfect, and awesome.

Apple received over 400,000 more mentions than Google in second place and seven times as many total mentions as Lego in third. Tesco in fourth place was the first British and only food and beverage brand to feature, while BMW was the first automotive brand to appear, coming in fifth.

The study looked at the top 50 brands in Europe, determined by market research over the past year to rank the best-loved brands in technology, consumer goods, automotive, food and beverage, financial services, and energy. Data was gathered using NetBase’s social media listening platform.

From the millions of posts of earned mentions across said region during the 12-month period between April 2015 and March 2016, brand conversation specific to the UK and France was analysed in English and French respectively to provide two lists of the 25 most loved British and French brands.

“While it’s not altogether surprising that Apple came out on top, if we look beneath the surface it tells us that here is a company that has created an enviable passion among its consumers,” said Paige Leidig, Chief Marketing Officer at NetBase, in regards to the results.

“Alternatively, look at Tesco, why is it the only food and beverage brand on the list, where are the likes of Lidl and Sainsbury? The answer is because it has worked hard to build a strong relationship with its customers and they want to express their love for it.”

She noted that understanding consumer preference is more than simply measuring the volume of social media content; it is about grasping the intensity of passion and feeling in those posts. According to Leidig, most consumer purchases are won on emotion and the report measures brand love and every single version of it.

“It tells us which brands people love the most. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of having insightful customer data that you can act upon whether it’s a new campaign, product launch or purely understanding ongoing customer perception of your brand.”

Key insights from the research also found that:

Lego is UK’s top consumer goods brand: Lego won most loved consumer goods brand with users sharing their excitement towards the #Starwars themed blocks and underlining the value that partnering plays in leveraging a strong brand presence. Consumer goods represented 28 percent and included the likes of Adidas, Chanel, and Burberry.

UK loves cars: Automotive brands ruled the list with a total of nine appearing including BMW, Ferrari, and Audi who were the top loved brands. Yet, they only represented 16 percent of the overall conversation indicating that consumers have similar levels of love for car brands as they do for other industries.

Tesco was the only food and beverage brand on the list: Tesco’s presence illustrated the importance of running targeted campaigns. #Triedforless invited customers to share some of their favourite experiences with its products via social media and was the most popular hashtag associated with the brand.

UK loves talking about travel destinations: British Airways was the only airline listed. The conversation centred on passengers sharing stories about flying to their favourite destinations. Transportation represented just one percent of overall mentions. The report found that while consumers often share experiences of their travels, airlines could do more to encourage consumer love through promotional campaigns.

United Kingdomers are tech talkers: Technology companies dominated and accounted for 12 percent of the top 25 most loved UK brands which was mainly down to Apple and Google who alone represented 64% of the overall UK brand mentions.

Global brands and advertising agencies including Coca-Cola, T-Mobile, Edelman, and McCann are using NetBase technology to gain insight into how consumers feel about their brand through the eyes of millions of daily social media posts. The platform is also used a marketing campaign evaluation tool.

Apple, Lego, BMW, British Airways, and even Coca-Cola were winners at 2014-2015 World Branding Awards. A year later at the 2015-2016 installation, Lego, Apple, Google, Coca-Cola, and British Airways claimed top stop in their respective categories.