Orange has emerged as the mobile category winner in the Summer Kaizo Advocacy Index, knocking the previous winner, 3, off the top spot. The Kaizo Advocacy Index measures the impact of online word of mouth, or brand recommendability, of 20 major brands across four sectors. The bi-annual Index examines independent links on four Google search engine tools.
Orange achieved a score of 34, an increase of 25 points over its Winter Advocacy Index score. The brand received a high number of positive comments referring to recent agreements with new media content providers, including Bebo and Google.
3 was in second place with a score of 26. Vodafone increased its Kaizo Advocacy Index rating from 5 to 14, its reputation bolstered by environmental and product innovation news. News of Arun Sarins departure created mixed news, but was generally passive in tone.
O2 and TMobile received the lowest results in the mobile sector. In contrast to the Winter Kaizo Advocacy Index, O2 received a score of -1, a drop of 36 points. Meanwhile TMobile received a score of -19, mainly due to comments regarding poor coverage and customer service.
Kaizo notes that in the mobile sector, there on issue with high levels of passive comments online, reflecting the difficulties experienced by consumers in differentiating among mobile brands. An active online advocacy programme can help to differentiate brands in the eyes of consumers, the company says.
In todays Web 2.0 world of information sharing and user-generated content, its easy for positive comments surrounding brands to get lost in the ocean of general, passive comments made every day. This means that brands need to be more active online to ensure the balance remains positive, says Kaizo Managing Director, Rhodri Harries.
Kaizo advises organisations that Advocacy Index scores must be considered in relation to competitors scores, rather than in isolation, or against companies in different sectors. Some sectors have broad word of mouth appeal, while others are more niche in their appeal.
However, within a sector the Index score is a clear sign about who will win in the recommendation stakes in the immediate future. As such, the company says, it is a very effective benchmark for comparisons within sectors.
Research from the London School of Economics shows that companies with above-average recommendability and below-average negative word of mouth, grow four to five times faster than other companies. Not surprisingly, negative word of mouth is more powerful than positive word-of-mouth by a factor of three and a half times.