Vitrue Survey Of Social Network Brands Inspires Insights, Questions

Vitrue's second annual ranking of social brands, which studies the "share of voice" of particular brands, was recently released. The survey's methodology involves measuring Internet conversations over a spectrum of social networking sites, blogs, photo and video sharing sites, and other online media.

The top ten "social" brands (in order) are iPhone, Disney, CNN, MTV, NBA, iTunes, Wii, Apple, Xbox, and Nike. Of course, there are several interesting observations, and even more questions, that arise from an examination of the results. (The full list is available at Vitrue's site.)

CNN is unexpectedly high at #3. The second highest-ranking "news" brand -- not counting ESPN -- is CBS at #32. Fox News placed in at #54.

Why is the NBA, with a #5 ranking, so much more of a "social network" brand than the more profitable and popular NFL, which came in at #12? An even more perplexing outcome regarding sports brands is that insanely popular NASCAR is at #43, only three spots higher than the perpetually struggling NHL, at #46. Huh.

Then there is Starbucks, at #11 -- the only name in the top 20 that represents a consumer food brand, but it still outranked fashion and tech brands such as Gucci, BlackBerry, and Intel. The coffee maker is doing an excellent job -- for better or worse -- of inspiring discussions about its brand online.

Apple, not surprisingly, ranks high on the list, but it is noteworthy that Vitrue breaks out the individual products -- such as iTunes and the iPhone -- while also counting the umbrella brand Apple as a separate entity. A compelling comparison between a brand and its sub-brands.

Finally, Vitrue notes: "Some powerhouse technology brands were omitted from the list as they provide the backbone of many social networks. While Google, Facebook and others are top brands, The Vitrue 100 is measuring companies that are using social technology, not those who are the technology."