1. The worlds most valuable brands. Whos most engaged? ENGAGEMENTdb Ranking the Top 100 Global Brands Prepared by:www.ENGAGEMENTdb.com July 2009

2. TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTIONHistorically, economic hardship motivates companies to take a good, hard look at their marketing Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 budgets and try to compute each investments nancial value. This recession is no different, withone exception: social media has become perceived as an indispensible marketing tool one gettingincreased investment despite a historical inability to quantify its worth.Key Findings .........................................................................................2There is little left to debate about whether or not one should participate in social media virtually allcompanies, big and small, have acknowledged social medias presence, and rms who do not have aDepth of engagement can be measured. .............................................2 blog, Facebook page, or Twitter account now nd themselves in the scarce minority. Many, however,Brands fall into one of four engagement proles. .................................5 appear to be blindly hopping on the bandwagon people are creating company prole pages andFinancial performance correlates with engagement. ............................6 sending updates without knowing how much they should invest in these distribution channels or whatsuccess even looks like. This brings us back to Economics 101: how can a company effectively allocatelimited marketing resources if they cannot dene the investments value?Best practices........................................................................................8For the rst time ever, Wetpaint/Altimeter Group have gone beyond surface case studies to measurethe true nancial value of social media. We conducted our research not just on a small scale, but basedStarbucks ............................................................................................8 on the worlds 100 most valuable brands these are brands that are widely acknowledged for settingToyota ...............................................................................................12the standards in marketing as measured by BusinessWeek / Interbrand Best Global Brands 2008SAP ....................................................................................................14rankings. And now, we evaluate how well they are engaging their consumers using social media and,Dell ....................................................................................................16 even more importantly, how that engagement correlates with their most important nancial metrics:revenue and prot. A surprising conclusion: While much has been written questioning the value of social media, thislandmark study has found that the most valuable brands in the world are experiencing a direct Key Takeaways .................................................................................. 18correlation between top nancial performance and deep social media engagement. The relationship isapparent and signicant: socially engaged companies are in fact more nancially successful. So now we know it pays to be social, but it is important to note that by social, were talking about Methodology .....................................................................................20deep engagement, not merely having a presence. And what exactly do we mean by deep socialengagement? Resembling any in-person exchange, socializing requires more than just being there you have to interact with others, instigate discussions, and respond during conversations. Ourstudy implies value in social engagement on top of social presence it pays to actively and continually Appendices participate and invest in your networks.Appendix A: Engagement Scores for the Top 100 Global Brands .........23This report also contains case studies highlighting our interviews with four unique companiesAppendix B: Engagement Scores by Industry ......................................26 Starbucks, Toyota, SAP, and Dell all of which scored top quartile engagement rankings. By goingAppendix C: Engagement Proles .......................................................31beyond just the statistics, we introduce a playbook for how the best are succeeding in social media sothat you, too, can engage and succeed. Our hope is that the data and best practices in the ENGAGEMENTdb Report provide a new way to think Endnotes .............................................................................................32 about how to use these powerful tools and how companies should invest their marketing resources.The right level of social media engagement could be the key to propelling you into tomorrows rankingof the top 100 global brands.Ben ElowitzCharlene LiCEO, WetpaintPartner, Altimeter Group2 1 3. KEY FINDINGS There exist thousands of social media channels, each with a slightly different value proposition. It is therefore a daunting task to gure how to objectively evaluate various marketing efforts across all social mediums. The Wetpaint/Altimeter Group ENGAGEMENTdb Report introduces a single criterion: engagement. The goals of the study were to measure departments and executives were inFigure 1: all 100 brands Figure 1: Engagement Scores of Top 100 Global Brands how deeply engaged the top 100 these channels. Thus, we looked at not global brands are in a variety of social only at the breadth, but also the depth media channels and, more importantly,of engagement.140 High Engagement understand if higher engagement is correlated with nancial performance.Adding all channel sub-scores together120 We found that not only could wegives the brands overall engagement quantiably measure engagement,score. Understandably, the more 100we could also understand how morechannels a brand leverages, the higher engaged companies tap an engagementits overall engagement score will be.80 mindset to perform better. Below are All of the engagement scores for the 60 some of our key ndings. brands are listed in Appendix A. The topengagement score of 127 was earned Low Engagement 40by Starbucks, which has presence in 11 Depth of engagement can be channels.20 measured.Charting the companies engagement 0 We evaluated and scored each brands scores against the number of channels0One Channel 2 13 4 5 6 7 8 9Many Channels 101112 engagement in various channels they are in yields another insight the using criteria customized for that average depth of engagement as particular type of social media. We also represented by two regression lines (see examined how deeply involved different Figure 1).11246 23 65 4. KEY FINDINGSKEY FINDINGSTwo regression lines are used one for depth of engagement as the brand contrast, apparel, consumer products, their go-to-market strategy. Companiesbrands engaged in six or fewer channels extends itself into more and morefood & beverage, and nancial brandslike these could not imagine operatingand one for brands engaged in seven channels. Sometimes this is due to in general dont engage as much without a strong presence in socialor more channels.1 Brands that appear brands learning from their experiences which is to be expected given thatmedia.above the line are more engaged onin other channels, making it easier to companies in these industries are just Butteries. These brands are engagedaverage than other brands engagedin the same number of channels, andengage deeply in new channels likeTwitter. This effect is also a reection beginning to experiment with social media. in seven or more channels but have2those appearing below the lines are onof the brands commitment to social lower than average engagementaverage less engaged across all of theirmedia once they are invested inBut even within industries, there is scores. Butteries like Americanchannels. We also found that: multiple channels, they are more likelya wide spectrum of engagement. Express and Hyundai have initiatives into engage deeply in each of them.In the auto sector, some brands like many different channels, but tend to As the number of channels increase,Toyota are highly engaged in manyspread themselves too thin, investingoverall engagement increases at a Engagement differs by industry.channels, especially around the Prius. in a few channels while letting othersfaster rate. Theres a reason why weIts no surprise that engagement In contrast, luxury brands Mercedes- languish. Their ambition is to be adecided to use two regression lines totends to differ by industry (see FigureBenz and Porsche are in just two Maven and they may get there butshow the trend brands that were 2). Not only are some industries onchannels each. In other words, distinctthey still struggle with getting thein seven or more channels engaged average present in more channels, they target audiences can inuence thefull buy-in from their organizationsdeeply across all channels where they also engage with them more deeply. appropriate level of social mediato embrace the full multi-waywere present, as compared to brands For example, media and technologyengagement even within speciedconversation that deep engagementthat were present in fewer channels.companies tend to be in more channelsindustries. Appendix B providesentails.There is an exponential growth in the and engage deeply within them. Inadditional details on select industries. Selectives. These brands are engagedFigure 2: engagement by industry (with labels)in six or fewer channels and have 3Brands fall into one of fourhigher than average engagementFigure 2: Engagement Varies by Industryengagement proles. scores. Selectives like H&M and PhilipsDepending on the number of channels have a very strong presence in just90and how deeply they are engaged a few channels where they focus onHigh Engagement80in them, brands took on one of four engaging customers deeply when Media (6)specic proles (see Figure 3): and where it matters most. The social70 Technology (12)media initiatives at these brands tend Mavens. These brands are engagedto be lightly staffed if they are at601 in seven or more channels and haveall, meaning that by default, they50 Retail (8)Leisure (5)an above-average engagement score.have to focus their efforts. These are Consumer40 Bus Services (3)Electronics (7)Brands like Starbucks and Dell are able beachheads, started by an impassioned30 ConsumerAuto (12)to sustain a high level of engagement evangelist with a shoestring budget.Low EngagementProducts (12)across multiple social media channels. Wallowers. These brands are4 Food & Bev (11) Manufacturing (4)20 Apparel (7)Mavens not only have a robust strategyFinancial (13)and dedicated teams focused on social engaged in six or fewer channels and10media, but also make it a core part ofhave below-average engagement 0scores. Wallowers like McDonalds0One Channel 213 45 6 78 9 Many Channels 101112 45 5. KEY FINDINGSKEY FINDINGS and BP are slow to or are just gettingfew channels. They are also cautious aboutWe also found that social media reach success. This insight relates back to our started, dipping their toes into social the risks, uncertain about the benets, alone may have a positive impact: industry-specic ndings: the optimal media waters. They are still trying toand therefore engage only lightly in theButteries enjoyed signicantly strongerlevel of presence and engagement gure out social media by testing just achannels where they are present.revenue returns than Selectives ordepends on a variety of factors. Its not Wallowers. Why is this so? Our about doing it all, but doing it right. hypothesis centers around touchFigure 3: Brands Fall Into One of Four Engagement ProlesWhile these ndings do not necessarily points: More touch points can present a ripple effect, inducing viral marketing,imply a causal relationship, they still boosting brand recognition and drivinghold powerful implications. Social sales volume. media engagement and nancial success work together to perpetuate On the other hand, it is interestinga healthy business cycle: a customer- to note that compared to Butteries,oriented mindset stemming from deep Selectives delivered higher gross and social interaction allows a company to net margins, suggesting that deep identify and meet customer needs in engagement in a few channels can be the marketplace, generating superior a rewarding and effective social mediaprots. The nancial success of the strategy. Focusing on depth overcompany, in turn, allows further breadth present an opportunity to betterinvestment in engagement to build even understand the customer, react quicklybetter customer knowledge, thereby to customer demand, and improve creating even more prots and the satisfaction which in turn generatescycle continues. pricing power and drives business Financial performance industries are well represented acrossFigure 4: Engagement Correlates to Financial Performancecorrelates with engagement. the spectrum of engagement proles(see Appendix C). Revenue Growth % (Last twelve months) Gross Margin Growth % (Last twelve months) Net Margin Growth % (Last twelve months)Back to the million-dollar question: Whydo social media? We nally have a goodTo be specic, companies that are both answer: Because it pays off. While no deeply and widely engaged in socialone yet has the data to determine directmedia surpass their peers in terms ofcause and effect, what we do nd is both revenue and prot performance a nancial correlation between thoseby a signicant difference. In fact,who are deeply engaged and those whothese Mavens have sustained strongoutperform their peers (see Figure 4).revenue and margin growth in spite of Moreover, this correlation reects more the current economy. Coincidence?than just the state of various industries Perhaps, but were looking at statisticalgiven the current economic conditions signicance among the worlds most valuable brands. 67 6. BEST PRACTICES In addition to the statistical data, we also qualitatively examined how four brands manage to engage broadly and deeply in some cases, with very limited dedicated staff. One recurring theme throughout these case studies is that engagement cannot remain the sole province of a few social media experts, but instead must be embraced by the entire organization. We now take a deeper look at the strategies, processes, and technologies that allow Starbucks, Toyota, SAP, and Dell to engage both broadly and deeply, with the goal of illuminating what has fueled their success and to provide insights and best practices to help any business move towards deep engagement.Starbucks IndustryLeisureTop 100 Rank 1 Score127Channels 11 Social Media Team6 people Wheeler acknowledges that the physical, distributed nature of Starbucks is also their biggest challenge, with people changing all the time while others are eager to engage directly through channels like Twitter. We need to be marching throughStarbucks has a small social media team with only six people, and yetthis in the right way, stated Wheeler. We need to build our social strategy up withStarbucks obtained the highest engagement score 127 in 11 channels integrity so that we are not compromising the relationships with customers. Here are some of the ways they balance distribution and centralized control: among the top 100 brands. This is all the more impressive because asa bricks-and-mortar store with thousands of physical outlets, Starbucksbeat out advanced media and technology brands. We spoke with Chris Deputize people throughout the organization.Bruzzo, VP of Brand, Content and Online, and Alexandra Wheeler, Director The rst channel Starbucks launched wasthat was suggested by a customer inof Digital Strategy, at Starbucks to understand how Starbucks engagesMyStarbucksIdea.com, where peopleAugust 2008. As the person in charge ofso successfully. Wheeler explained, We live in the physical world withsubmit , comment on, and vote for theirinnovation in that department, Davidson favorite ideas. But rather than just put tracked the comments, developed thethousands of natural touch points, so when we laid out the vision for our up the technology, Starbucks set out toproduct, and launched it with a blogsocial strategy, it felt like home for the brand. Its about the relationships weensure the departments impacted by post on the site.2form with our customers, not marketing. the site (which includes practically every department) had a representative who It may appear easy and obvious now, was responsible for being the liaison. but Wheeler said that the days prior For example, Chuck Davidson on the to the launch of MyStarbucksIdea. Starbucks Card team championed the com were the hardest. Getting the idea of offering a mini-Starbucks card operational readiness in place, getting 8 9 7. BEST PRACTICESBEST PRACTICESpeople onboard was tough. We had on the new site would eventually come Centralize coordination.to take a leap of faith together. naturally, because they would beThe key was making the case to the operating in areas where they already While Starbucks encourages designatedthe experience for customers. We are50 representatives from all around had responsibility and knowledge. employees to have a sense of ownership protective of these channels and wantStarbucks that engaging with peoplein customer engagement as experts on to make sure that we are using them specic topics, the company is not yet in the right way, explained Wheeler. endorsing a widespread engagementThere are plans to engage more broadly, in social channels. This can sometimes but again, coordination will be centrallyUnderstand how each channel provides a different dimension be difcult as many of the employees managed.of engagement. especially those who work in stores and are avid users of social media channelsMoreover, the interactive team is like Facebook and Twitter chomp at fully integrated into overall marketingAs Starbucks became more comfortable people are added virally as friendsunder the Bruzzos oversight so that the bit to engage. Wheeler admitted,with social technologies, they realizedof those people. Just to put it inall traditional forms of marketing are For every single piece of content thatthat each channel is different and perspective, the announcement of the integrated with email, paid search, and we put online and do right, we also dorequired developing different facets ofmini-Starbucks card on Facebook drew social channels to maximize impact, a lot of shutting down. The reason:the relationship with their audience.1,406 comments and 12,382 people rendering centralized consistency and Starbucks wants to make sure that thereFor example, when Starbucks startedliking the post so that it showed up coordination all the more important. is consistency in the approach and inengaging on Facebook in Octoberin their news feed. Facebook is not only2008 at Facebook.com/starbucks,about messaging to the 3.5 millionthey approached and took over thefans, but also allowing the fans to talkownership of user-created communitieswith each other about their love for the(with the blessing of the original pageproduct and experience. Find champions who can explain and mitigate risk.administrators). At that time, thepage had about 200,000 fans, but a Contrast that to Twitter.com/starbucks Starbucks had one major advantage in In addition to CEO Schultz, there wascombination of Starbucks generatingwhere one person responds to inquiries, its entry into social media CEO Howard also an everyday champion. Bruzzocontent and customers sharing theirsuch as replacement blades for coffee Schultz personally introduced andadded, There needs to be someoneenthusiasm for the brand has built thatgrinders, or even questions from baristas championed MyStarbucksIdea.com fromwho not only gets social media but canfan base to nearly 3.5 million members about changes in the menu. With the start. A core belief in the importance also translate it for the organization. representing one of the largest groups 250,000+ followers, Starbucks uses of customer engagement allowed the Alex (Wheeler) is a key part of that.on Facebook. Twitter as an in the moment channel company to take risks and try new things Having Wheeler was essential, as she to deliver timely customer support and as a matter of faith. Bruzzo emphasized, was the person who cajoled, prodded,Bruzzo explained the source of the spread word about the latest breaking We had to accept that there wereand convinced everyone to take that rstgrowth: Recently, we found that for news and contests. some unknowns. If you try to mitigatestep into social media.every four people that interacted with every piece of risk, you will be eithera particular news item, another three inauthentic or fail. 1011 8. BEST PRACTICES BEST PRACTICESToyota Industry AutoTop 100 Rank 21 Score54Channels 7Social Media Team 3 peoplebecause it leveraged the corporate afliated with Toyota by providingcommunications work that DeYagers access, information, and support. Butteam was already doing. They reasonedthey have no plans in the near term to Toyota is relatively new to the social media arena, having started in earnestthat it would be hard to get in troublelaunch a blog their limited resources just two years ago Toyota launched its YouTube channel in March 2008 with 140-character postings and keyand organization barriers make blogging and established a Twitter prole in April 2008. Yet with a team of just threestakeholders viewed channels likedifcult. To extend their reach further,Twitter and YouTube as less threatening. they recently launched Facebook pages people, Toyota was able to achieve an engagement score of 54 across for the Prius (Facebook.com/prius)The team works closely with outsideand Lexus (Facebook.com/lexus) in 7 channels. We spoke with Scott DeYager, Social Media Supervisor, andblogs like Priuschat.com which is notconjunction with their outside agency.3 Denise Morrissey, Online Community Manager, about how they engage with Toyota customers. Spread engagement to employees beyond the social media team.Be in it for the long haul.As they were only three people, DeYagerbodies here to engage 24/7, explainedand his team from the start reachedMorrissey. Together with our agency, Morrissey stressed that a key toa plan and make sure that resources areout to people around the company towe put together guidelines and best successful engagement is to commit to available. Because you cant gracefullyprovide the content to ll the channelspractices on customer engagement, a relationship with customers in newexit once youre in, youre in. The days where they engage with customers.then communicated and shared the channels and convince your customersof walking away from a campaign areTake a look at the Twitter account and responsibilities with the functional that you will be there for them. If youover once we engage, we have toyoull see that in addition to DeYager,groups who could respond to, for are going to engage, you have to have commit to it. three public relations specialists fromexample, environmental news.sales, environment/safety, and publicaffairs/community outreach contributeThe team also pulls content such asposts. The Toyota Twitter team usesvideo from around the organization.monitoring software to identify tweets Morrissey commented, It was never an Pick channels carefully.argument inside the organization to getmentioning Toyota, then responds froma respective area of expertise using content people are excited to give us From the start, the social mediachannel (YouTube.com/toyotausa) content, such as dealer training videos,technology from CoTweet to manage team realized that there would be a that showcased video content that because it serves the public as well. Amultiple authors on the single Twitter lot of resistance to having a ToyotaToyota already had handy it was lot of the departments are coming to usaccount.4 This same mode is utilized on blog. We had to choose the path of simply a matter of uploading thewith content. DeYagers team createdToyotas Facebook pages response least resistance, shared DeYager.content to YouTube. Twitter camea social media governance board torequests are sent out and come back So they started with a YouTubenext (Twitter.com/Toyota), primarilydevelop loose guidelines on how contentfrom around the company, dependingon the topic.would be shared between the Toyota, Lexus, and Scion divisions, making itNot only does this put the real expertsmuch easier for the social media team tofront and center, but the social media go freely around the organization andteam couldnt manage the efforts request content.any other way. There arent enough12 13 9. BEST PRACTICES BEST PRACTICES IndustryTop 100 Rank ScoreChannelsSocial Media TeamSAP Technology986 10 35 peopleEncourage employees to tap into social media to get work done. With 1500 employee bloggers and 400 about concepts like open cloud As one of the largest technology companies in the world, SAP has the employees actively publishing content incomputing and timeless software daunting challenge of engaging its extended developer community. The other forms, SAP clearly has few controlin order to oat the idea and getissues about allowing employees tofeedback. Yolton explained, Product SAP Community Network (SCN) is now six years old, 1.7 million users strong,engage. Thats because the companymanagers are using the social tools to and run by 35 people. The social media team manages the web site as well realizes that real work gets done in thesecommunicate information about their as multiple in-person events around the world, each with attendance well social channels. It goes all the way to the new products and to get feedback top CTO Vishal Sikka recently blogged even down to product documentation. into the thousands.5 Mark Yolton, Senior VP of SCN, remarked that while SCN has a relatively large team compared to other companies, Theres no way that I and my team of 35 people could manage the 1.7 millionEngage in new channels where people already are. members of the community. But engage they do, with an engagement score of 86 across 10 channels (ranked 9th out of the top 100 brands). HereSCN started with blogs, wikis, andpartners like mentors, and analysts/discussion forums, but recently branchedbloggers.7 Yolton supported the role are some of their best practices.out to new channels like Twitter as well. of individuals on Twitter, saying, AWe think about the ecosystem morecorporate presence doesnt speak wellbroadly than just customer management in Twitter. Its better to have individual its a symbiotic relationship voices in Twitter where they can engagebetween the members of our broaderas people. So while there is at best a Open the platform to anyone and everyone.ecosystem. So while there are roughlylight tie between the SCN site activitieseight ofcial Twitter accounts, there and Twitter, the philosophy of deep and Anyone can contribute to the blogs,To encourage activity and engagement,are many more personal accounts wide engagement carries through even discussion forums, and wikis on the SCNSAP has a reward point Contributormanaged by SAP employees, related on non-SAP SCN sites. site and 5,000 bloggers do. Two-thirds Recognition Program that awards points of contributors represent customers, for specic activities, such as maintaining thought leaders, analysts, and partnersa blog, responding to forum questions, from the broader SAP ecosystem. Yolton or adding to a wiki page.6 Why wouldSupport engagement as an extension of the company culture. explained, Five thousand people haveanyone care about the points? Because the keys to the blogging system on SCN.to the system communicates theOne of the newest channels SAP is nancial performance, he believes there Thats one way to scale by involving reputation of each developer, vendor,using is Twitter.com/saplistens, ais a correlation. Its more like branding the community very actively.partner, or thought leader as an expertchannel where SAP invites consumers our activities reect an attitude of and can help secure a job, contract,to Talk with us. We want to learn.the company that is more engaged, aand sale.Yolton emphasized that this reects the company that values the opinions andoverall culture of the company, one thatviewpoints of the many different voicesvalues the ability to listen well. Whileof customers and suppliers. If we canYolton cant yet prove a measurable make our customers more successful,causal relationship between customerthen they will buy more products andengagement and the companysservices. 14 15 10. BEST PRACTICES BEST PRACTICESIndustryTop 100 Rank ScoreChannels Social Media TeamDell Technology212311n/a Make social media part of the job, just like email.There are several examples of how Dell times a week and also has a personal Dells social media engagement was initially forged by crisis from the Dellemployees are leveraging social media to blog on which he engages fellow Linux Hell summer of 2005 to the aming laptops in 2006. But from these trials,get their jobs done, engaging for 15-20enthusiasts.9 Binhammer explains, Max minutes a day as part of their routine.doesnt have to get on a plane and go to Dell emerged as one of the most engaged and active companies in social For example, Max Weston, an educationa Linux conference to bring that outside media, with an engagement score of 123 in 11 channels. Their best practices strategist at Dell, tweets regularly,perspective into his job every day. For pertain primarily to how to extend and sustain engagement across thesharing his thoughts on education andpeople like Max, this is just another technology with 3,000+ followers.8 channel for communicating. Its an add- organization. Matt Domsch, a technology strategist inon, not a replacement, and is like using the ofce of the CTO, is a Linux expertyour phone or email. who pops in and out of Twitter several Be conversational from the start. Modularize and synchronize content across channelsWhen Dell started engaging in socialhub that was the inspiration forWhile Dell recognizes that each channelthe Dell Mini development team who media, they started small with a bloggerMyStarbucksIdea.com), to multiple is unique, it also understands thatrespond to the Netbook idea threads relations program designed to reach Twitter accounts. Richard Binhammer,engagement frequently jumps betweendirectly. out to bloggers writing about Dell. Thisa senior manager in corporate affairs atchannels. Dell recently facilitated cross- channel engagement with a post on theIn the future, Dell could create what simple start focused on a dialogueDell, observed, When we moved into Direct2Dell blog asking for feedback onLionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger at Dell, with bloggers set the tone for allother channels, we learned our lesson the future of Dell Mini Netbooks while calls activity streams to incorporate future engagement, now ranging from and adopted a conversational approach directing people to share their thoughts not only Dell-generated content, but a blog (IdeaStorm, an idea generation culturally. on IdeaStorm as well.10 Dell also used also Dell community and industry news the opportunity to launch a Twitteraround Netbooks for Mini owners.11 That account at Twitter.com/dell_mini. Theinformation could be pushed into blogs, engagement across all of these channelstweets, video, photos, etc. so that Mini is being driven by three members ofowners can consume content in thechannel of their choice. 16 17 11. KEY TAKEAWAYSEngagement via social media IS important and we CANTo scale engagement, make social media part of everyones job.quantify it. The best practice interviews have a common theme social media is noMany different social media channels exist, each with a slightly longer the responsibility of a few people in the organization. Instead,different value proposition. Rather than try to understand just theits important for everyone across the organization to engage withindividual value of each channel, the ENGAGEMENTdb looks acrosscustomers in the channels that make sense a few minutes each daymain channels and categorizes not only breadth but also depth of spent by every employee adds up to a wealth of customer touch points.brand engagement in social media.Doing it all may not be for you but you must do something.Whats in it for me? The optimal social media marketing strategy will depend on a varietyThe ENGAGEMENTdb quantitatively demonstrates a statistically of factors, including your industry. If your most valuable customers dosignicant correlation between social media engagement and the two not depend on or trust social media as a communication medium, ormost meaningful nancial performance metrics revenue and prot.if your organization is resistant to engagement in some channels, youMoney talks, and its declaring that it pays to engage meaningfully in will have to start smaller and slower. But start you must, or risk fallingsocial media.far behind other brands, not only in your industry, but across your customers general online experience. Emphasize quality, not just quantity.The ENGAGEMENTdb Report shows that engagement is more than justFind your sweet spot.setting up a blog and letting viewers post comments; its more thanEngagement cant be skin-deep, nor is it a campaign that can be turnedjust having a Facebook prole and having others write on your wall.on and off. True engagement means full engagement in the channelsRather, its keeping your blog content fresh and replying to comments; where you choose to invest. Thus, choose carefully and advocateits building your friends network and updating your prole status.strongly to acquire the resources and support you will need to succeed.Dont just check the box; engage with your customer audience.If you are resource-constrained, it is better to be consistent and participate in fewer channels than to spread yourself too thin. 18 19 12. METHODOLOGYHave a plan of how you will ramp engagement.that thislook atwas someAll data is based on availability during the time Took a study howcompanies are managing to engage deeply the strategies, processes,conducted (March May, 2009).and technologies they use to engage both deeply and widely. What we looked at Innovation hubs (e.g. centralizedHow we scored engagement latest business results and tested ourcustomer community to createhypothesis that engagement goes handThe Top 100 brands based onOver 40 attributes for each of the 100innovation) in hand with nancial success. First, weBusinessWeek / Interbrand Best Global companies were evaluated in general, Wikis collected publically available nancialBrands 2008 publication.the number of channels in which aperformance metrics for companies Ratings and reviewscompany participates was evaluated intraded in US markets. In order to Twitterconjunction with its respective level ofWhat social media channels engagement in each channel.maintain data consistency as a basisdid we examine? YouTube for fair comparison, private companies For most evaluation metrics, companies and/or companies that are only traded inWe recognize that each social media Note: Corporate/Executive involvement received credit for channels orforeign markets were not included in ourtool is unique and functions differentlywas also weighted on par with other engagement only if it was evident that analysis. Revenue, gross margin, andto deepen the consumer relationship.channels rather than as an engagement corporate sponsored/encouraged net margin performance was evaluatedApplying our industry expertise in thesub-score within each channel. Why? resources were responsible for creatingon a last twelve months basis (LTM).most prevalent social media networks, A company that makes social media the presence and/or responsible forIn other words, the most recent publiclywe narrowed the scope of our study to tools such a priority that the executive consistent participation within theavailable quarterly data (Q4 08 orthe following social media channels:leadership team regularly participates channel. Companies received partialQ1 09 in some cases) was used as arepresents a meaningful, on-going Blogscredit in cases where strong corporate starting point. The three immediatelyinvestment that merits credit beyond presence in channels created by external preceding quarters of data (i.e. Q1 08 to Branded social network/communitya bonus point within specic tool parties (e.g. consumers, third party Q3 08 if starting with Q4 08) was then Content distribution to other sites (e.g. buckets. Treating organizational afliates) was clear and discernible.incorporated to comprise the 12 monthFacebook Connect, ShareThis, etc) participation in this manner furthersperiod for analysis. All data was collected Discussion forums our goal of rewarding companies thatfrom Marketwatch and/or Yahoo!make material investments in socialHow we incorporated nancial External social network presenceFinance.engagement.performance(e.g. Facebook, MySpace)Next, we segregated the companies Flickr / Photobucket After scoring each companys socialinto those that scored above and below media engagement, we reviewed theirtheir peer sets average, analyzed their 20 21 13. METHODOLOGY respective revenues/margins, and compared the two groups aggregate How we uncovered best practices APPENDIX A: averages for each nancial metric. The current economic conditions ascertained We identied several brands that areENGAGEMENT INDEX SCORES FOR THE engaging in unique ways and conducted the appropriateness of a relative phone interviews to understand TOP 100 GLOBAL BRANDS comparison as opposed to an absolute how they crafted their social media standard of a good vs. bad nancial Below is a chart with the names of the top 100 worldwide brands according to engagement strategy. outcome.BusinessWeek / Interbrand (see Figure 5). The list of brands is available here. Included in the table is the engagement score of each brand and the number of A signicant and representative samplechannels where they were present. The results are plotted in Figure 1 of the report. (66 of the top 100 brands) was used inFor a detailed accounting of each score, please visit www.ENGAGEMENTdb.com. the nancial analysis. Figure 5: Engagement Scores for the Worlds Top 100 Brands Rank Company IndustryChannel Score Engagement Prole1 Starbucks Leisure11 127 Maven2Dell Technology 11 123 Maven3 eBay Retail 9 115 Maven4GoogleMedia 11 105 Maven5 Microsoft Technology 10 103 Maven6Thomson Reuters Media8 101 Maven7 Nike Consumer products9 100 Maven8AmazonRetail 9 88Maven9SAPTechnology 10 86Maven 10 Intel Technology 10 85Maven 10Yahoo Media9 85Maven 12 BlackBerryTechnology9 85Maven 13 Accenture Business services 8 76Maven 14Oracle Technology 10 73 Buttery 15 Cisco Technology 11 72 Buttery 16 Pepsi Food & Beverage 7 71Maven 17 MTVMedia 10 66 Buttery 18 SonyConsumer electronics9 63 Buttery 19DisneyMedia7 58Maven 20AdidasConsumer products7 56Maven 21ToyotaAuto 7 54Maven 22Ferrari Auto 9 53 Buttery 23 H&MRetail 5 53 Selective 24HP Technology8 50 Buttery Continued on next page 22 23 14. APPENDIX A: ENGAGEMENT INDEX SCORESAPPENDIX A: ENGAGEMENT INDEX SCORESRankCompany IndustryChannel Score Engagement ProleRankCompany IndustryChannel Score Engagement Prole 24Nokia Consumer electronics 10 50Buttery 62UPS Business services 3 18Selective 26Samsung Technology 10 49Buttery 64 BMW Auto 5 17 Wallower 27 Honda Auto 7 47 Maven 64 CanonConsumer electronics5 17 Wallower 28 GEMedia6 46Selective64 JP MorganFinancial 6 17 Wallower 28 IBMTechnology9 46Buttery 64Shellmanufacturing5 17 Wallower 30 NescafeFood & Beverage 8 46Buttery 64SmirnoffFood & Beverage 2 17Selective 31Gucci Apparel 6 44Selective69 BPmanufacturing6 16 Wallower 31Xerox Technology8 44Buttery 69 Hermes Apparel 5 16 Wallower 33Apple Consumer electronics6 43Selective69HSBCFinancial 5 16 Wallower 34 FordAuto 7 41Buttery 69Johnson & Johnson Consumer products 5 16 Wallower 34LexusAuto 9 41Buttery 69 LOrealConsumer products 4 16 Wallower 36Philips Consumer electronics4 39Selective69Tiffany & Co.Retail 3 16Selective 37 ColgateConsumer products 6 38Selective75 Chanel Apparel 4 14 Wallower 37 Marriott Leisure 5 38Selective75Merrill Lynch Financial 3 14Selective 39NintendoConsumer electronics8 37Buttery 77 McDonaldsLeisure 6 12 Wallower 39Panasonic Consumer electronics9 37Buttery 78 CartierApparel 3 11 Wallower 41 Harley-Davidson Auto 6 34Selective78 HeinzConsumer products 4 11 Wallower 42 KFCLeisure 6 32Selective80 Giorgio Armani Apparel 2 10Selective 43 Visa Financial 4 32Selective80Louis VuttonConsumer products 4 10 Wallower 44Audi Auto 8 29Buttery 80Moet & ChandonFood & Beverage 2 10Selective 44 Hyundai Auto 8 29Buttery 80 PorcheAuto 2 10Selective 44 INGFinancial 6 29Selective84 Morgan Stanley Financial 39 Wallower 44Pizza Hut Leisure 5 29Selective85Klennex Consumer products 28 Wallower 48 American Express Financial 9 27Buttery 85Nivea Consumer products 18Selective 48Avon Retail 5 27Selective87 Gillette Consumer products 27 Wallower 48 Siemens manufacturing5 27Selective87MarlboroConsumer products 27 Wallower 51Coca Cola Food & Beverage 6 27 Wallower 87Zara Retail 27 Wallower 51FedEx Business services 6 27 Wallower 90 Citi Financial 26 Wallower 53MotorolaTechnology5 24Selective90 Goldman SachsFinancial 36 Wallower 53Prada Apparel 5 24Selective90Kelloggs Food & Beverage 46 Wallower 55 Gap Retail 3 23Selective93DanoneFood & Beverage 25 Wallower 55NestleFood & Beverage 5 23 Wallower 93DuracellConsumer products 25 Wallower 57Caterpillarmanufacturing6 22 Wallower 95AXA Financial 34 Wallower 57 IkeaRetail 5 22 Wallower 95HennessyFood & Beverage 14Selective 59Rolex Apparel 4 21Selective95 Mercedes-Benz Auto 24 Wallower 60Budweiser Food & Beverage 3 20Selective98 WrigleyFood & Beverage 23 Wallower 61 VWAuto 5 19 Wallower 99AIG Financial 11 Wallower 62 UBSFinancial 4 18 Wallower 99 AllianzFinancial 11 WallowerContinued on next page 24 25 15. Figure 7: auto industry (with labels)APPENDIX B: Figure 7: Engagement Scores for Auto CompaniesENGAGEMENT SCORES BY INDUSTRY140High EngagementWe grouped all 100 companies into their respective industries and calculated 120 industry average engagement scores and channels. Also included in this appendixare two charts for the auto and technology industries, showing the wide spread in100Top 100engagement scores and number of channels even within an industry (see Figures 7trend line80and 8).60Toyota FerrariHondaFigure 6: Engagement Scores by IndustryLow EngagementFord Lexus40Harley-Davidson Hyundai Audi IndustryChannelsScoreCompanies 20VW Porche BMWApparel 4.1 20.07 Benz Auto 6.3 31.5120Business services 5.7 40.23 0One Channel 21 3 4 5 6 78 9Many Channels 101112 Consumer electronics7.3 40.97 Consumer products4.0 23.512Financial 3.8 13.813Figure 8: technology industry (with labels)Food & Beverage 3.8 21.011Figure 8: Engagement Scores for Technology CompaniesLeisure 5.5 27.64 Manufacturing5.5 20.54 140 Media8.5 76.76High Engagement Retail 5.1 43.88Dell 120Technology9.3 70.012 Microsoft 100Top 100 SAP trend lineBlackberry Intel80 Cisco Oracle60 HPSamsung IBMLow Engagement40XeroxMotorola2000One Channel 21 3 4 5 6 78 9Many Channels 101112 26 27 16. APPENDIX B: ENGAGEMENT SCORES BY INDUSTRY APPENDIX B: ENGAGEMENT SCORES BY INDUSTRYFigure 9: Engagement Scores for the Top 100 Brands by Industry Industry CompanyChannel Score Industry rank Overall RankEngagement Prole Industry Company Channel Score Industry rank Overall RankEngagement Prole ApparelGucci 644 131 Selective Consumer products Klennex28 884 Wallower Apparel Prada524253Selective Consumer productsNivea1 8 884Selective ApparelRolex 421358Selective Consumer products Gillette 2 710 86 Wallower Apparel Hermes 516468 WallowerConsumer productsMarlboro2 710 86 Wallower Apparel Chanel 414574 WallowerConsumer products Duracell 25 12 92 Wallower Apparel Cartier3116 77WallowerFinancial Visa 432 1 43Selective Apparel Giorgio Armani 210779Selective Financial ING629244SelectiveAuto Toyota7 54 121 Maven Financial American Express 927348ButteryAuto Ferrari953222ButteryFinancial UBS4184 61WallowerAuto Honda 7 47327Maven FinancialJP Morgan 617563 WallowerAutoFord 7 41434ButteryFinancialHSBC516668 WallowerAutoLexus 941434ButteryFinancial Merrill Lynch314774SelectiveAuto Harley-Davidson6346 41 Selective Financial Morgan Stanley 39 883 WallowerAutoAudi829744ButteryFinancial Citi 26 989 WallowerAutoHyundai 829744ButteryFinancial Goldman Sachs36 989 WallowerAutoVW519960 WallowerFinancial AXA34 11 94 WallowerAuto BMW51710 63 WallowerFinancial AIG 1112 98 WallowerAuto Porche 21011 79Selective FinancialAllianz1112 98 WallowerAuto Mercedes-Benz24 12 94 Wallower Food & Beverage Pepsi7 71 116Maven Business services Accenture876 113 MavenFood & BeverageNescafe846230Buttery Business services FedEx6272 51Wallower Food & Beverage Coca Cola 6273 51Wallower Business servicesUPS 3183 61 SelectiveFood & Beverage Nestle523454 Wallower Consumer electronics Sony963 118 Buttery Food & Beverage Budweiser 320559Selective Consumer electronicsNokia10 50224Buttery Food & BeverageSmirnoff 217663Selective Consumer electronicsApple643333SelectiveFood & BeverageMoet & Chandon 210779Selective Consumer electronicsPhilips439436SelectiveFood & Beverage Kelloggs 46 889 Wallower Consumer electronics Nintendo837539Buttery Food & BeverageDanone 25 992 Wallower Consumer electronics Panasonic 937539Buttery Food & Beverage Hennessy 1 4 10 94Selective Consumer electronicsCanon517763 Wallower Food & BeverageWrigley23 11 97 WallowerConsumer products Nike910017MavenLeisure Starbucks 11 12711 MavenConsumer productsAdidas7 56220MavenLeisureMarriott 538237SelectiveConsumer productsColgate638337SelectiveLeisureKFC632342SelectiveConsumer products Johnson & Johnson 516468 Wallower Leisure Pizza Hut 529444SelectiveConsumer productsLOreal416468 Wallower LeisureMcDonalds612576 WallowerConsumer productsHeinz4116 77Wallower ManufacturingSiemens527 1 48SelectiveConsumer products Louis Vutton410779 Wallower Manufacturing Caterpillar 622256 Wallower Continued on next page Continued on next page 2829 17. APPENDIX B: ENGAGEMENT SCORES BY INDUSTRY Industry Manufacturing CompanyShell Channel 5 Score17 Industry rank3 Overall Rank 63Engagement ProleWallower APPENDIX C: ManufacturingMedia BP Google 6 11161054 1 684Wallower MavenENGAGEMENT PROFILESMediaThomson Reuters 8101 2 6MavenMediaYahoo 9853 10 MavenThe nancial correlation we have found based on the four engagement prolesMedia MTV10 664 17 Buttery are more than just the result of current economic conditions or specic industryMediaDisney 7 585 19 Mavendynamics. In fact, each engagement prole represents a wide range of industries,MediaGE646628Selectivewith each industry having presence in at least two different engagement proles. Retail eBay 911513Maven Retail Amazon 9882 8MavenFigure 10: Brands Fall Into One of Four Engagement Proles Retail H&M553323Selective Retail Avon 527448Selective Retail Gap323554Selective Retail Ikea 522656 Wallower Retail Tiffany & Co.316768Selective presence Retail Zara 2 7886 Wallower engagementTechnology Dell11 12312MavenTechnologyMicrosoft10 103 2 5MavenTechnology SAP 10 863 9MavenTechnologyIntel10 854 10 Maven TechnologyBlackBerry 9855 12 Maven presence presenceTechnology Oracle10 736 14 Buttery engagement engagementTechnologyCisco11 727 15 ButteryTechnology HP850824ButteryTechnologySamsung10 49926Buttery Technology IBM 94610 28ButteryTechnologyXerox8441131 ButteryTechnologyMotorola 52412 53SelectiveFigure 11: Industry Composition of Engagement ProlesHigh Engagement 11 industries 16 companies8 industries 17 companies Auto (1) Leisure (3) Bus services (1) Manufg (1) Auto (2) Leisure (1) Cons elec (2) Media (1) Bus services (1) Media (4) Cons prod (1) Retail (3) Cons prod (1) Retail (2) Financial (1) Tech (1) Food (1) Tech (5) Food (1) 8 industries 21 companies5 industries 12 companies Auto (1) Financial (8) Auto (2) Media (1)Low Engagement Bus services (1) Food (2) Cons elec (3) Tech (5) Cons elec (1) Leisure (1) Financial (1) Cons prod (5) Manufg (2)Few Channels Many Channels 3031 18. ENDNOTES INTERESTED IN...1Running a regression analysis on the full set of 100 brands resulted in a best t line that favored Learning more about the ENGAGEMENTdb?companies skewed towards fewer channels. In order to provide a meaningful benchmark, weincorporated a break at six channels, which reected both the natural data distribution and the Getting your own customized engagement report?average number of channels for all 100 companies. The two resulting trend lines generated strongerregression coefcients, more relevant comparisons for any given peer set, and provided further Finding out how Wetpaint or the Altimeter Group can help you betterinsights regarding social media behaviors across the range of channel presence. engage your customers?2 The blog post announcing the mini-Starbucks card is at http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/ archive/2009/06/26/you-asked-for-it-introducing-the-mini-starbucks-card.aspx and the original idea is at http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/ideaView?id=0875000000052KBAAY.3 The Toyota Facebook pages were not included in the engagement scoring as they were launched WERE A SOCIAL BUNCH - GIVE IS A SHOUT. after the evaluation period ended.4 Each Toyota Twitter team member identies their tweets by inserting a ^(initials) at the end of their Wetpaint: messages. For example, Scott DeYager adds ^SD at the end of his messages. Web: www.wetpaint.com5 The SAP Community Network is available at http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn. Telephone: 206.859.63006 More information about the recognition program can be found at https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/ Email: info@wetpaint.com sdn/crphelp. Press Inquiries: press@wetpaint.com7 For a fairly completely list of SAP-related Twitter accounts, see http://wiki.zsapping.com/pub: twitter:groups:sap:index.8 Altimeter Group: Mark Weston tweets at http://twitter.com/shiftparadigm.9 Web: www.alltimetergroup.com Matt Domsch tweets at http://twitter.com/mdomsch and blogs at http://domsch.com/blog/. Email: Charlene@altimetergroup.com10 The Direct2Dell blog post asking for feedback on the Mini Netbook is at http://en.community.dell. Ofce: 650.350.1171 com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2009/05/11/wanted-your-feedback-on-future-dell-mini-netbooks. aspx and the IdeaStorm link is at http://www.ideastorm.com/ideaList?lsi=0&cat=Netbooks. Mobile: 415.203.959711 More information about the concept of activity streams is available in a slide presentation at http://www.slideshare.net/Dell_Inc/blog-well-san-francisco-june-2009. 3233 19. www.ENGAGEMENTdb.com