Headstream has today (29 May) released its list of the top 100 social brands in the UK, described as the authoritative ranking of brands in the country that are taking the lead in the age of social media.
Coca Cola-owned smoothie leader Innocent topped this year's list, moving up from seventh position in 2011, driven by the light touch that it applies to packaging and marketing as well as its 'tone of voice in the social sphere'.
'We've always wanted to build actual relationships with our drinkers,' Joe McEwan, communications manager at Innocent, told Headstream. 'It started with talking to people on our packaging, inviting them to call the bananaphone, meeting them at events we put on, and so on. It naturally extended into digital and then social media as those channels evolved.'
Innocent held of strong competition from Starbucks, which came in second place with a higher data score (measuring ‘observable markers’ in social spaces that indicate strong social performance) than Innocent but a lower score from the panel of experts judging the list.
The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment performed particularly well in the countdown, with Muddy Boots Real Foods (53), Ribena (96) and Tropicana (98) all inside the top 100.
Retailer Sainsbury's crept inside the top half of the list in 50th place, while Jamie Oliver-funded restaurant Fifteen Cornwall came in 44th place.
