UK sentiment rankings illustrate the challenge to get strong advocacy both online and offline – but Clinique achieves it

January brings the UK cold weather, flu, and intense focus on which retailers ‘won’ and ‘lost’ in terms of Christmas trading.

Our recent press release highlighted our latest TotalSocial® ranking of the top-performing U.S. brands in the tech/electronics category. On that side of the pond, we noted how Bose had risen up the brand rankings, with more positive offline sentiment thanks to its renewed agreement with the NFL to remain its official headphone and headset provider and also an updated version of its noise-canceling headphones.

Digital is obviously a key channel for travel in the UK, with online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Booking.com and Expedia a go-to resource for holidaymakers, and TripAdvisor the place for travel reviews.  But real-world visibility counts for something too – brands such as Thomas Cook, with a strong physical presence on the High Street, perhaps have an advantage in being able to trigger real-world conversation, and of course couple that with a strong digital offering.  Meanwhile, the ‘Trivago girl’s 15 minutes of fame owes everything to canny and heavy use of a 150-year-old advertising medium, the Tube poster.

Our recent post on the profile of (offline) influencers in the US noted the increasing importance of male Millennials, often in categories long dominated by women.  We noted that, Millennial men are 50% more likely to be consumer influencers than Millennial women, and are increasingly recommending beauty, fashion and household products, and not just for the usual male-oriented products and services such as sports or automotive.

UK ‘Moves and Shakers’ feature brands of all types
Which brands can truly claim to be the talk of the town, those hot properties that seem to be attracting all the hype, and a growing viral presence? At times the marketing press seems obsessed with ‘disruptive’ brands like Uber, tech-related brands in general, or niche eateries in trendy parts of London or New York.

The UK is famously a nation of shoppers, and not surprisingly, shops and shopping is something we Brits love to talk about. That’s true even as footfall declines and many famous High Street names struggle.

Marks & Spencer unveiled a new brand campaign and strategy last week, and as ever, its actions were widely discussed in the widely discussed in the marketing community.