NEW YORK – September 6, 2023 – A study commissioned by RAB in collaboration with Engagement Labs, an industry leading data and analytics firm, has unveiled valuable insights into radio’s unparalleled influence as a driver of brand conversations. The study, titled “Radio Drives Brand Conversations: Unveiling the Untapped Potential of Radio Conversations,” uncovers the extraordinary impact of radio on purchase intent, societal discourse and the bottom line for advertiser brand goals.  

New Report from Engagement Labs Measures Relationship Between Political Affiliation and Consumer Sentiment for Fortune 500 Brands

  NEW YORK, NY (AUGUST 17, 2023) – As Republican candidates take the stage for the first debate of the 2024 Presidential Election cycle, Engagement Labs unveils a new report that reveals the extent to which polarized politics in America are impacting major consumer brands, creating a new challenge for brand marketers eager to attract consumers across the political spectrum. Based on consumer conversation data for nearly 500 brands, the report finds that consumer conversations relating to more than a fifth (23%) of brands are polarized between Republicans and Democrats. The new report is timely, coming in the wake of a politically controversial video featuring a trans influencer, Dylan Mulvaney, which provoked boycotts and outrage on social media. After Bud Light lost its first-place ranking in the beer market, the brand’s parent company, AB InBev, placed members of its marketing team on leave and revamped its marketing. The Engagement Labs report, “Brand Marketing Amid Political Polarization,” draws on consumer conversation data collected by the company’s award-winning TotalSocial® platform that has been shown to be a powerful driver of consumer purchases. Among the key findings, the study reports that, over the last two years, many brands earn equal sentiment among Republicans and Democrats, including Coca-Cola, which has a highly positive net sentiment score of 64 among both Republicans and Democrats, meaning conversations are 64 points more positive than negative for Coca-Cola. Other brands earning equal scores among Democrats and Republicans include Lay’s Chips (+73), Chipotle (+62), Chevrolet (+48), and Gucci (+33). However, conversations are politically polarized for about 23% of major brands. These include DiGiorno, Vanguard, and Moderna that are much more positive among Democrats than Republicans, and Olive Garden, Holiday Inn, and Fox News that are much more positive among Republicans than Democrats. The study provides a depth and breadth of data across many other key demographics, media usage and lifestyle categories providing compelling cross sections of insight.  

Brands Experiencing Political Polarization

As the 2024 United States Presidential campaign progresses, understanding the risks and opportunities posed by political polarization has become more crucial than ever for brand marketers. This study sheds light on how political beliefs influence consumer conversations and the potential implications for brand reputation and sales. Some of the biggest differences are found for brands that have been drawn into major political debates, such as the brands behind the biggest COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, which Democrats talk about much more positively than Republicans. But it is not immediately apparent why the restaurant chains Olive Garden and Red Lobster, Holiday Inn, and the consumer brands Jif Peanut Butter and Swiffer would be more positively discussed among Republicans than Democrats. Conversely, it is not clear why DiGiorno pizza and Vanguard investments would be more recommended by Democrats than Republicans. The report helps to answer some of the reasons behind these differences. As it turns out, Vanguard investments has been penalized among Republicans for its association with ESG: the trend toward considering environmental, social, and governance issues in investments. Meantime, Olive Garden has been talked about positively by Fox News hosts, leading to positive sentiment for the brand among Republicans.

Disney Appears to Weather Political Storm

A prominent example of political polarization is the Disney brand, which recently has become a target of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a candidate for President running in the Republican primary. Over the last two years, the net sentiment is 67 for Democrats and 59 for Republicans, a modest difference of 8 points. But since late 2022, when the governor’s disagreements with Disney went public, sentiment has been declining among Republicans while rising slightly for Democrats. Yet even despite increased political polarization for the Disney brand, sentiment remains strongly positive among partisans on both sides, suggesting the brand has weathered the crisis relatively well. Source: Engagement Labs’ TotalSocial, July 2021 – June 2023   The charts below reveal 40 of the brands with the largest gaps between Republicans and Democrats. The full report includes data for nearly 500 brands.   The full report, “Brand Marketing Amid Political Polarization” is available for download at https://go.engagementlabs.com/en-us/brands-amid-political-polarization. To learn more about Engagement Labs and how to increase your brand’s word of mouth in real life and online, reach out at: totalsocial@engagementlabs.com. Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/-engagementlabs. #totalsocial  

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About Engagement Labs Engagement Labs is an industry-leading data and analytics firm that provides social intelligence for Fortune 500 brands and companies. The Company’s patented TotalSocial® platform focuses on the entire social ecosystem by combining powerful online (social media) and offline (word of mouth) data with predictive analytics. Engagement Labs has a proprietary ten-year database of unique brand, industry and competitive intelligence, matched with its cutting-edge predictive analytics that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal the social metrics that increase marketing ROI and top line revenue for its diverse group of clients. To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.   About The Study Engagement Labs’ TotalSocial platform measures online and offline conversations for leading brands. For this report, “Brand Marketing Amid Political Polarization,” analysts focused on the offline conversations of consumers aged 18 to 69. Brand conversations examined have a minimum base of 50 or higher; with an average base size of 269. Net sentiment is calculated by subtracting negative and mixed conversations from positive ones. The higher the score the more positive the conversations. Additional details can be requested at information@engagementlabs.com.   For media inquiries please contact: Vanessa Lontoc, VP of Marketing and Sales Operations Engagement Labs media@engagementlabs.com

Engagement Labs Releases New Study Ranking Brands with Greatest Sentiment

Carter’s and Trader Joe’s Lead Offline Sentiment, While American Family Insurance and Walmart’s Great Value Also Switched Top Positions for the Most Positive Brands Online

Costco’s Kirkland Brand Excels as the Only Brand Among Top Ten In Both Online and Offline Sentiment; Gillette with Most Notable Improvement in Brand Love

    NEW YORK, NY (March 3, 2022) – Engagement Labs released its fifth annual ranking of America’s “most loved” brands. Carter’s, the retailer of children’s apparel ranks first while Trader Joe’s, the American grocery store, moved down to the second top spot of the list of brands most positively talked about in offline conversations, ahead of more than 650 brands across all consumer categories. Meantime, Great Value, a Walmart brand, and American Family Insurance also switched places for the top positions for the most loved brands in online talk. “This year’s TotalSocial Most Loved Brands exhibit the vital consumer emotional connection with brands and demonstrates how the brand marketers have built and found opportunities even during the past two years of pandemic,” said Steven Brown, president of Engagement Labs. “Brand love has been a major part of our work with Fortune 500 brands and continues to be a focus in 2022.” Costco’s Kirkland is the only brand to rank among brands both online and offline that shows the importance of marketing strategies that seek to activate both channels in driving business performance. Gillette’s improvement in offline brand love grew the most last year than any other top 10 brand. Gillette has not been shy of the weighing in real-world conversations in social issues with ads such as toxic masculinity that demonstrates that when it comes to offline, its positive word of mouth rise above and resonates to consumers. Last year’s net sentiment of consumer conversations is positive for everyday categories such as beauty and personal care, children’s products, food and home.  The importance of positive sentiment prevails as the “Great Resignation” ensues and more people adjust to hybrid lifestyle and preferring to stay at home to work remotely. This analysis ranks the most loved brands based on net positive conversations happening online (via social media) and offline (via face-to-face conversations as well as phone, emailing, texting, IM’ing, video chat – in other words, via any channel other than posting on social media) to determine its annual TotalSocial Brand Awards winners.

The Difference Between Offline and Online Conversations

Online and offline discussions are two entirely different conversations, generally unrelated to each other, as Engagement Labs articles have shown in the Journal of Advertising Research and the MIT Sloan Management Review. Both types of conversations have an impact that leads to sales, but they do so very differently, and they require different marketing strategies. According to Engagement Labs data and analytics 19 percent of all consumer purchases are driven by these kinds of consumer conversations. “The modified life and return to some normality during 2021 reflect the brands on our ‘most loved’ brands list and brand landscape of who’s earning the most positive recommendations from consumers,” said Brown. “The rise of Lush, Trip Advisor, Kenmore, Mary Kay and Express online, as well as Dawn, Gillette, and Kirkland in the offline space reveals what consumers engage and talk about with great sentiment for the past year.” “The goal of marketers is to be successful in achieving more positive conversations, both online and offline, to ultimately become “Conversation Commanders,” as we have labeled the most successful brands in both conversation arenas. To achieve this, marketers need to have two separate measurement and marketing strategies, to make sure these separate, but equally important conversations are maximized.” To learn more about Engagement Labs and how to increase your brand’s consumer conversations in real life and online, reach out at: totalsocial@engagementlabs.com.  

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  About Engagement Labs Engagement Labs (TSXV: EL) is an industry-leading data and analytics firm that provides social intelligence for Fortune 500 brands and companies. The Company’s TotalSocial® platform focuses on the entire social ecosystem by combining powerful online (social media) and offline (word of mouth) data with predictive analytics. Engagement Labs has a proprietary ten-year database of unique brand, industry and competitive intelligence, matched with its cutting-edge predictive analytics that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal the social metrics that increase marketing ROI and top line revenue for its diverse group of clients. To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.   About TotalSocial Brand Awards – Most Loved Brands The awards are based on the Company’s proprietary TotalSocial® data and analytics platform, which continuously measures the online and offline social metrics that are proven drivers of business performance. These metrics, including both online and offline conversations against the following major conversation dimensions: net sentiment (the difference in the percent positive conversations minus negative), brand sharing (the extent to which people are sharing or talking about a brand’s marketing or advertising), volume (a measure of how many conversations mention a brand) and influence (the extent to which an influential audience is talking about a brand). The Most Loved Award is given to brands with the highest net sentiment scores online and offline in 2021.   For media inquiries please contact: Vanessa Lontoc, VP of Marketing Engagement Labs vanessa.lontoc@engagementlabs.com

Trader Joe’s and Carter’s Lead Offline Talk Sentiment, While Walmart’s Great Value and American Family Insurance Retain their Rankings as the Most Positive Brands Online

 

Unilever’s Dove Excels as Only Brand Among Top Ten In Both Online and Offline Sentiment

  NEW YORK, NY (February 24, 2021) – Trader Joe’s, the American neighborhood grocery store, and Carter’s the retailer of children’s apparel rocketed up the list of brands most positively talked about in offline conversations, ahead of more than 650 brands across all consumer categories, to take top “most loved” honors in Engagement Labs’ fourth annual TotalSocial® Brand Awards.   Meantime, Great Value, a Walmart brand, and American Family Insurance earn the top positions (as they did last year) for the most loved brands in online talk.   Unilever’s Dove claims special notice as the only brand to rank among brands both online and offline during the COVID era – an important achievement given the importance of both offline and online in driving business performance. Dove’s improvement in online brand love grew more than any other top 10 brand. This reflected Dove’s focus on The CROWN Act and #BeautyBias campaigns that resonated to women everywhere and providing a platform for impactful conversations on social and racial justice in America. Dove has a long tradition of campaigns that are engaging both online and offline since its provocative landmark Real Beauty campaign, and 2020 was no exception.   Consumer conversations changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic with everyday categories such as beauty and personal care, video games, and household cleaning products taking on new importance and shifted consumer needs as time spent at home surged and amid quarantine mode for many Americans.   This analysis ranks the most loved brands based on net positive conversations happening online (via social media) and offline (via face-to-face conversations as well as phone, emailing, texting, IM’ing, video chat – in other words, via any channel other than posting on social media) to determine its annual TotalSocial Brand Awards winners.

Why TotalSocial: Offline and Online Conversations Matter

Before consumers make buying decisions, they talk – especially during COVID times. But what do they talk about and how has that changed?  Online AND Offline – through social media, product reviews, face-to-face or via Zoom, by text or IM, or via whatever channel – Americans seek recommendations, feedback and validation in our choices of entertainment and products. These conversations, reviews and the counsel of our peers have enormous impact on consumer choices and thus on brands in terms of sales, brand health, and other KPIs. According to Engagement Labs data and analytics 19 percent of all consumer purchases are driven by these kinds of consumer conversations.   “COVID-19 changed our lives during 2020. The brands on our ‘most loved’ brands list reflect the change in brand landscape as exhibited in those that earned the most positive recommendations from consumers during the pandemic,” said Engagement Labs CEO Ed Keller. “We see dramatic change for Nivea, Minecraft, Oreo and Lipton offline, and Dove and Fabuloso online, as well as home appliance brands KitchenAid and Frigidaire. And congratulations to Dove for once again leading the way in both offline and online conversation with relevant, talkworthy content as they have consistently done for many years now.”   “Even with the pandemic and everything it brought with it, along with the polarized political climate, consumers continued to talk about brands. To be successful in this new era, marketers must be part of the consumer conversation, which is predictive of long-term brand value, in addition to sales,” Keller noted. “Marketers need to have unique strategies for positive engagement and consumer conversation online vs. offline to drive better brand and business outcomes.”   To learn more about Engagement Labs and how to increase your brand’s consumer conversations in real life and online, reach out at: totalsocial@engagementlabs.com.   To learn more about the TotalSocial Brand Awards, click here.  

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  About Engagement Labs Engagement Labs (TSXV: EL) is an industry-leading data and analytics firm that provides social intelligence for Fortune 500 brands and companies. The Company’s TotalSocial® platform focuses on the entire social ecosystem by combining powerful online (social media) and offline (word of mouth) data with predictive analytics. Engagement Labs has a proprietary ten-year database of unique brand, industry and competitive intelligence, matched with its cutting-edge predictive analytics that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal the social metrics that increase marketing ROI and top line revenue for its diverse group of clients.   To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.   About TotalSocial® TotalSocial® is a premier data and analytics platform that provides brands with unique insights, improved marketing ROI and strategies to grow revenue. Fueled by actionable online and offline data, TotalSocial is the only platform that encompasses and listens to the entire social ecosystem. TotalSocial offers unique, proprietary data about brands, its industry and competitors. With cutting-edge diagnostics, patent-pending predictive analytics and machine learning, TotalSocial identifies business opportunities and provides recommendations and a roadmap to grow revenue and achieve business and marketing goals.   About TotalSocial Brand Awards – Most Loved Brands The awards are based on the Company’s proprietary TotalSocial® data and analytics platform, which continuously measures the online and offline social metrics that are proven drivers of business performance. These metrics, including both online and offline conversations against the following major conversation dimensions: net sentiment (the difference in the percent positive conversations minus negative), brand sharing (the extent to which people are sharing or talking about a brand’s marketing or advertising), volume (a measure of how many conversations mention a brand) and influence (the extent to which an influential audience is talking about a brand). The Most Loved Award is given to brands with the highest net sentiment scores online and offline in 2020.   Disclaimer in regard to Forward-looking Statements Certain statements included herein constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Engagement Labs does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events.   Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.   For media inquiries please contact: Vanessa Lontoc, VP of Marketing Engagement Labs 732-846-6800 vanessa.lontoc@engagementlabs.com  

Marketers Can Now Target Digital Ads Based on Proprietary Offline Word-of-Mouth Advocacy Segments

Opens Door to Unlock a Powerful New Social Channel

  New Brunswick, NJ/Toronto, Ontario — February 9, 2021 — Engagement Labs, the industry-leading data and analytics firm that specializes in offline and online social data and intelligence for brands and companies, has announced a new alliance with Dstillery, the leading custom audience solutions partner for agencies and brands. The partnership opens the way for marketers across a wide range of categories to better target word-of-mouth influencers.   In today’s consumer environment, advice from friends and family is acknowledged to be the most important and trusted source of information, proven to drive sales and other business outcomes.  Engagement Labs has demonstrated that offline data (word of mouth) is distinct from social media – both larger in volume and with even greater impact. To date, marketers have not had a means to digitally target offline WOM influencers as a complement to their social media. TotalSocial® data allows brands to identify and target brand influencers, advocates and ambassadors, in addition to competitors.   The data partnership fills that important void. It is based on the integration of proprietary data about offline word-of-mouth based on the Engagement Labs TotalSocial® data and analytics platform, matched to Dstillery’s AI-based anonymous consumer database. The segments cover the full range of consumer categories from CPG brands in food, beverages and household products, to highly considered purchases such as technology, telecom and automotive, as well as financial and travel services. The audience targets made are made available through Dstillery and programmatic ad platforms.   “This is an important new opportunity for our clients and brands to reach a vital segment of consumers who are already talking about their brand and category, to drive advocacy that will amplify their messages and accelerate sales,” stated Ed Keller, CEO of Engagement Labs. “As a firm that prides itself on innovation, we are thrilled and proud to be associated with Dstillery with their impressive data offering of incomparable speed and flexibility. This partnership widens and builds our targeting capacity to help our clients to further enhance and galvanize their word-of-mouth strategies.”   “Our clients are highly interested in reaching powerful, new-to-market audience segments that will enable their media buying to be more efficient and effective. Word-of-mouth advocacy is of great interest,” said Peter Ibarra, Director Strategic Initiatives at Dstillery. “We recognize that Engagement Labs is a leader in consumer conversation data. Combining our data and technologies provides marketers and advertisers access to a new, highly valuable set of audience segments so they can prosper in our highly connected marketplace.”  

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  About Engagement Labs Engagement Labs (TSXV: EL) is an industry-leading data and analytics firm that provides social intelligence for Fortune 500 brands and companies. The Company’s TotalSocial® platform focuses on the entire social ecosystem by combining powerful online (social media) and offline (word of mouth) data with predictive analytics. Engagement Labs has a proprietary ten-year database of unique brand, industry and competitive intelligence, matched with its cutting-edge predictive analytics that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal the social metrics that increase marketing ROI and top line revenue for its diverse group of clients.   To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.   About TotalSocial^® TotalSocial^® is a premier data and analytics platform that provides brands with unique insights, improved marketing ROI and strategies to grow revenue. Fueled by actionable online and offline data, TotalSocial is the only platform that encompasses and listens to the entire social ecosystem. TotalSocial offers unique, proprietary data about brands, its industry and competitors. With cutting-edge diagnostics, patent-pending predictive analytics and machine learning, TotalSocial identifies business opportunities and provides recommendations and a roadmap to grow revenue and achieve business and marketing goals.   For media inquiries please contact: Vanessa Lontoc / Ed Keller, CEO Engagement Labs vanessa.lontoc@engagementlabs.com / ed.keller@engagementlabs.com   About Dstillery Dstillery is the leading custom audience solutions company, empowering brand marketers and their agencies to maximize the value of customer data and transform the way they connect with their audiences.   Our premier product, Custom AI Audiences, is built by just-for-your-brand Custom AI models that deliver the ideal combination of accuracy and scale. Because Dstillery continuously refreshes audience data, our audiences are always up-to-date and on-target. That’s why brands across Retail, CPG, Finance, Luxury, B2B, Telco, Travel, and Tech rely on Dstillery’s audience solutions to optimize their branding and performance marketing campaigns, helping to drive growth.   To learn more, visit us at www.dstillery.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Nivea and Colgate, Also Gain Offline;

H-E-B and Publix Gain in Social Media;

HGTV Gains Online and Offline

  NEW YORK, NY (June 11, 2020) – The impact of the 2020 pandemic is being strongly felt in online and offline consumer conversations as consumer priorities and interests have shifted. Entertainment, and particularly streaming services, are among brands benefiting the most, consistent with earlier reports from Engagement Labs. The TotalSocial® rankings are based on a combination of metrics including how much conversation brands earn, how positive, whether consumers are sharing brand content, and how well the brand is connecting with the most influential consumers. The top brand for offline conversation in March – May (the “Covid quarter”) is Disney+, which zoomed from last place to first since before its November 2019 launch. HGTV also rose remarkably, from 300^th to 9^th in 12 months, reflecting much more time for watching television, and interest in home improvement among people stuck at home. Indeed, HGTV is the only brand to appear in both the online and offline TotalSocial Top Ten, having risen from 23^rd to 6^th online. In online conversations, the Food Network moved up to first place, thanks to increased interest in home cooking during the pandemic, as reflected in more positive conversations about the brand online. Media and entertainment brands perform particularly well online, capturing eight of the top ten positions, with big gains for HGTV, Spotify, and the NFL. Notably absent from the Top Ten lists versus a year ago are Trivago, Audi, and USAA offline, and Disney World online. Declining interest in travel and automobiles during the pandemic explain these declines. Why Disney+ Leads and Bests the Other Streaming Competitors Although Netflix and Amazon earn enormous conversation volume, Disney+ outshines them on the TotalSocial ranker for March to May 2020 due to Disney+ having a more favorable positive-to-negative conversation ratio, and due to the high share of people talking about the brand being socially-connected influencers. “I can’t think of another brand that literally went from zero to number-one so fast,” said Engagement Labs CEO Ed Keller of Disney+. “The combination of a great brand, a successful holiday season release, and then a pandemic keeping people at home has provided the perfect storm for Disney+ plus to succeed in the streaming marketplace. It’s also notable that while the social media conversation curve quickly flattened for Disney+, the offline curve has plateaued at 40 million conversations per week,” Mr. Keller said. “Online and offline conversation trends frequently diverge, which is why it’s important for marketers to measure both conversation channels.”  

DISNEY+ CURVE HAS FLATTENED ONLINE, BUT PLATEAUED OFFLINE

Personal Care and Retail Gain Not all the brands gaining conversation in 2020 are flashy entertainment brands. After Disney+, the biggest offline improvement is for Nivea, which jumped 159th to 3^rd on the list, and Colgate which jumped from 43rd to 6^th. Online, big gains were registered for drugstore and grocery retailers H-E-B and Publix. These brands are benefiting from consumers’ increased focus on consumer staples, and limited retail options, during the COVID-19 crisis. For the same reason, we saw some stunning gains for a wide variety of household and personal care brands that did not rise high enough to break into the Top Ten, including Campbell’s (+215 places), Degree (+169), Crest (+223), and Bayer (+224) offline; and Dial (+214), Gerber (+217), Downey (+180), Bounty (+67), Glade (+110), and Charmin (+172) online. “The COVID-19 pandemic has reshuffled consumer conversations, in line with changing lifestyles. In fifteen years of tracking, we’ve never seen so much change in such a short time,” Mr. Keller said.   ###   About Engagement Labs Engagement Labs (TSXV: EL) is an industry-leading data and analytics firm that provides social intelligence for Fortune 500 brands and companies. The Company’s TotalSocial® platform focuses on the entire social ecosystem by combining powerful online (social media) and offline (word of mouth) data with predictive analytics. Engagement Labs has a proprietary ten-year database of unique brand, industry and competitive intelligence, matched with its cutting-edge predictive analytics that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal the social metrics that increase marketing ROI and top line revenue for its diverse group of clients.   To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.   About TotalSocial^® TotalSocial^® is a premier data and analytics platform that provides brands with unique insights, improved marketing ROI and strategies to grow revenue. Fueled by actionable online and offline data, TotalSocial is the only platform that encompasses and listens to the entire social ecosystem. TotalSocial offers unique, proprietary data about brands, its industry and competitors. With cutting-edge diagnostics, patent-pending predictive analytics and machine learning, TotalSocial identifies business opportunities and provides recommendations and a roadmap to grow revenue and achieve business and marketing goals.   For media inquiries please contact: Vanessa Lontoc, VP of Marketing Engagement Labs 732-846-6800 vanessa.lontoc@engagementlabs.com      

PlayStation Ranked #1 Online While AARP Grabbed the #1 Spot Offline

Video Game Industry Dominates the Top Online Talkworthy Marketing Campaigns, While Beauty and Personal Care Produce the Most Talkworthy Campaigns Offline

  NEW YORK, NY (May 14, 2019) – Nintendo stands out among 600+ brands as the only one to place in the top 10 both offline and online. Nintendo moved from third to second place for the most talkworthy marketing campaigns online, while Nintendo Switch ranked number 9 for offline brand sharing. Driving the brand’s charge to the top of 2019 were its kickoff marketing of Animal Crossing, successful sales of video games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Pokémon Sword, to eSports tournaments and events. PlayStation, the video game console, and AARP, the advocacy organization for the 50+ population, grabbed the top spots of the brands most successful in driving consumer conversations with advertising and marketing. PlayStation bested in social sway for online (via social media) and AARP for the role of paid and owned media in driving offline buzz (primarily via face-to-face conversations). The brands surpassed more than 600 brands to take the first positions of Engagement Labs’ TotalSocial® system in this year’s TotalSocial Brand Awards series in the Most Talkworthy Marketing category. Advertising and marketing is a great conversation starter. It reminds people why they like the brand, or what is new and worth checking, thus providing a trigger for conversations and recommendations.  Media/marketing plays a significant role in driving conversation, which in turns play a crucial role in the decision-making process, driving an estimated 19 percent of purchases, according to Engagement Labs’ analytics published in the MIT Sloan Management Review. About half that impact comes from offline conversation and the other half from social media, making it important for brands to master both. PlayStation launched ‘It’s Time to Play’ campaign in 2019 which led it to the top spot in the online ranking for two years in a row and coincides as the most popular video game console. On its heels are its competitors, Nintendo and Xbox in third place. “PlayStation and the video game industry understand how passionate their fans and gamers can be. They incorporate incredible stories through their games and translates well into their advertising and marketing. Our ‘Online Brand Sharing’ metric is a test of the shareability of content online,” said Ed Keller, CEO of Engagement Labs. “Compelling and buzzworthy ads and marketing make a big difference and a much-needed competitive edge for brands in an increasingly tight market,” added Keller. AARP jumped to the number one spot of the offline brand sharing this year with “Saving for Retirement” campaign with Ad Council, and various ad campaigns including the organization’s prescription drug related advocacy. Runner up for second place for offline brand sharing is AVON, the beauty brand and one of the world’s largest funders of causes that are critical to women’s rights. AVON with an army of more than 200,000 sales representatives in the US are also its brand ambassadors and marketers. “Given the close relationship between consumer conversations and sales, brands that have a strong incentive to create “talkable” and “shareable” campaigns is important to make sure your passionate advocates are armed with the latest content to share with others,” notes Steven Brown, President of Engagement Labs. “AARP, AVON and GEICO are examples of brands that are extremely effective at generating conversations with their advertising, and this is a key factor in their success in the marketplace.” To learn more about Engagement Labs and how to increase your brand’s word of mouth in real life and online, reach out at: totalsocial@engagementlabs.com. To learn more about the TotalSocial Brand Awards, click here.   *Categories included automotive, beauty and personal care, beverages (alcohol and non-alcoholic), children’s products, consumer packaged goods, dining, financial services, food, health, household products, retail and apparel, supermarkets and grocery stores, technology, and telecom.  

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  About Engagement Labs Engagement Labs (TSXV: EL) is an industry-leading data and analytics firm that provides social intelligence for Fortune 500 brands and companies. The Company’s TotalSocial® platform focuses on the entire social ecosystem by combining powerful online (social media) and offline (word of mouth) data with predictive analytics. Engagement Labs has a proprietary ten-year database of unique brand, industry and competitive intelligence, matched with its cutting-edge predictive analytics that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal the social metrics that increase marketing ROI and top line revenue for its diverse group of clients.   To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.   About TotalSocial^® TotalSocial^® is a premier data and analytics platform that provides brands with unique insights, improved marketing ROI and strategies to grow revenue. Fueled by actionable online and offline data, TotalSocial is the only platform that encompasses and listens to the entire social ecosystem. TotalSocial offers unique, proprietary data about brands, its industry and competitors. With cutting-edge diagnostics, patent-pending predictive analytics and machine learning, TotalSocial identifies business opportunities and provides recommendations and a roadmap to grow revenue and achieve business and marketing goals.   About TotalSocial Brand Awards – Brands with The Most Talkworthy Marketing The awards are based on the Company’s proprietary TotalSocial® data and analytics platform, which continuously measures the online and offline social metrics that are proven drivers of business performance. These metrics, including both online and offline conversations against the following major conversation dimensions: net sentiment (the difference in the percent positive conversations minus negative), brand sharing (the extent to which people are sharing or talking about a brand’s marketing or advertising), volume (a measure of how many conversations mention a brand) and influence (the extent to which an influential audience is talking about a brand). The Most Talkworthy Marketing Award is given to brands with the highest brand sharing scores online and offline in 2019.   Disclaimer in regard to Forward-looking Statements Certain statements included herein constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Engagement Labs does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events.   Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.   For media inquiries please contact: Vanessa Lontoc, VP of Marketing Engagement Labs 732-846-6800 vanessa.lontoc@engagementlabs.com

Ranking Focuses on Everyday Influencers, Who Carry Strong Sway with Consumers

  NEW YORK, NY (April 15, 2020) – Crystal Light, the beverage mix, and CVS, retail pharmacy drugstore, grabbed the top spots of the brands most successful with everyday influencers – CVS for online (via social media) and Crystal Light for offline (via face-to-face conversations). The brands bested more than 600 brands to take the first positions of Engagement Labs’ TotalSocial® system in this year’s TotalSocial Brand Awards series. The awards analyzed more than 600 U.S. consumer brands, Engagement Labs selected winners based on the extent to which this influential audience represented a large proportion of those people who talk about and recommend the brands offline and online. “There are ‘everyday influencers,’ in people’s own social networks who get sought out for advice and recommendations,” said Ed Keller, CEO of Engagement Labs and author of the seminal book, The Influentials: One American in Ten Americans tells the Other 9 How to Vote, Where to Eat, and What to Buy. “It is important for brands to focus marketing on the “influencer next-door” who is often called upon to tell their close network about great products without being paid and maintain authenticity,” said Keller. “Marketers have a much more sustainable opportunity to engage everyday influencers whose value comes from personal relationships with their closest friends and families. They should not, however, be confused with paid influencers on places like Instagram and YouTube.” Everyday influencers are the one in 10 consumers with large social networks who frequently make product and service recommendations – they are your neighbors who are first to try new electronics or beauty products, and eager to tell you what worked and what didn’t. “This year’s most influential brands is a mix of sectors from retail, airlines, quick service restaurants and not surprisingly the beauty industry earned positive recommendations from consumers,” noted Keller. “We see dramatic leaps in ranking from Costco’s Kirkland brand from social media, and Subaru from offline face to face conversations.” Data and extensive analytics undertaking reveal the impact of everyday influencers in driving business outcomes in WARC’s Admap article. To learn more about Engagement Labs and how to increase your brand’s consumer conversations in real life and online, reach out at: totalsocial@engagementlabs.com.   To learn more about the TotalSocial Brand Awards, click here.   ###   About Engagement Labs Engagement Labs (TSXV: EL) is an industry-leading data and analytics firm that provides social intelligence for Fortune 500 brands and companies. The Company’s TotalSocial® platform focuses on the entire social ecosystem by combining powerful online (social media) and offline (word of mouth) data with predictive analytics. Engagement Labs has a proprietary ten-year database of unique brand, industry and competitive intelligence, matched with its cutting-edge predictive analytics that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal the social metrics that increase marketing ROI and top line revenue for its diverse group of clients.   To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.   About TotalSocial^® TotalSocial^® is a premier data and analytics platform that provides brands with unique insights, improved marketing ROI and strategies to grow revenue. Fueled by actionable online and offline data, TotalSocial is the only platform that encompasses and listens to the entire social ecosystem. TotalSocial offers unique, proprietary data about brands, its industry and competitors. With cutting-edge diagnostics, patent-pending predictive analytics and machine learning, TotalSocial identifies business opportunities and provides recommendations and a roadmap to grow revenue and achieve business and marketing goals.   About TotalSocial Brand Awards – Most Successful Brands in Activating Influential Consumers The awards are based on the Company’s proprietary TotalSocial® data and analytics platform, which continuously measures the online and offline social metrics that are proven drivers of business performance. These metrics, including both online and offline conversations against the following major conversation dimensions: net sentiment (the difference in the percent positive conversations minus negative), brand sharing (the extent to which people are sharing or talking about a brand’s marketing or advertising), volume (a measure of how many conversations mention a brand) and influence (the extent to which an influential audience is talking about a brand). The Most Successful Brands in Activating Influential Consumers is given to brands with the highest online and offline influence scores in 2019.   Disclaimer in regard to Forward-looking Statements Certain statements included herein constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Engagement Labs does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events.   Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.   For media inquiries please contact: Vanessa Lontoc, VP of Marketing Engagement Labs 732-846-6800 vanessa.lontoc@engagementlabs.com