Irn-Bru tops social media charts

Irn-Bru, the fluorescent orange gloop beloved north of the border, has been crowned the top FMCG brand for social engagement in a study which shows “challenger brands” are outshining top sellers on social media.
Research from content marketing specialist Headstream analysed the UK’s 100 biggest-selling grocery brands by examining their engagement levels on key social media platforms Facebook (Likes, Comments, Shares, Wall Posts and Fans) and Twitter (Tweets, Retweets, Replies and Followers).
It found that only one brand (Pepsi Max) is a top ten best-seller and also in the top ten for social engagement, with half of the top ten brands for social engagement actually ranked in the bottom 25% of the best-sellers list.
The top ten also includes Volvic, Haribo, Whiskas, Chicago Town, Heinz Soup, Ginsters, Tetley and Capri Sun.
Headstream managing director Steve Sponder said: “Facebook and Twitter continues to evolve, and the brands scoring highly this year are the ones that appreciate both the strengths and weaknesses of each platform, and have adapted their use accordingly.
“We found that successful brands on social are the ones that place a greater focus on quality, relevant content that adds value. They are also intent on growing community size organically, ensuring their following is of true fans that are more likely to share branded content. This is something that bigger, top-selling brands have been slow to react to, and they need to follow suit to regain lost ground.”
The research also found that more than half (53%) of brand Facebook pages, and six of the top ten brands included in the ranking, have less than 250,000 followers. The average page engagement rates tend to decrease as the community size (total page likes) increases.
On Twitter, meanwhile, engagement rates and community sizes for FMCG brands were smaller: only 4% exceed 200,000 followers and three-quarters (73%) have feeds with less than 20,000 followers.
Irn-Bru head of marketing Adrian Troy said: “Digital plays a key role in everything we do and social is a huge part of that. We use social to connect and engage with our community and to express the personality of the brand.”