The results of the latest Kaizo Advocacy Index show Vodafone leading the way among UK mobile operators, with the network increasing its score considerably, thanks to a raft of positive coverage around the launch of the iPhone on Vodafone. A poor perception of network coverage and quality of customer service affected the majority of mobile brands scores, however.
The biannual Kaizo Advocacy Index measures the online reputation of 20 major brands across four sectors: Mobile, Airlines, Food and Software. In the Mobile sector, Vodafone scored 38%, followed by Orange (1%), O2 (-5%), 3 Mobile (-19%) and T-Mobile (-26%).
Vodafone topped the sector and, indeed, the entire Kaizo Advocacy Index, alongside food brand Del Monte, on the back of the availability of the iPhone on its network. The operator went some way to eradicating the problems that led to a 0% score in the last report, whilst improving customer satisfaction and introducing well-received new products and services. The release of the iPhone on the Vodafone network has put O2s domination of the product to an end, prompting comments on Twitter such as Can't wait to switch my iPhone back onto Vodafone.
Association with a strong brand clearly helps a brands online reputation, and Vodafone has seen this with the iPhone, says Kaizo Managing Director, Rhodri Harries. Overall, though, the sector suffers, as we all rely so much on our mobile, that when there is an issue, it is a high priority for us, and one which we will be vocal about. With many brands still feeling the effects of the downturn, social media is playing an ever-increasing role.
T-Mobile was the biggest loser in the mobile sector, moving from first to last place with a decrease in score of 35%. This was due to customer service issues and poor reception, particularly with mobile broadband. With comments such as finally getting rid of T-Mobile, of course they are messing up this as well a regular occurrence, Kaizo says that mobile brands must do more to deal with customers efficiently, in order to avoid the levels of frustration currently being vented online. 3 Mobile also fared badly, with similar issues to T-Mobile. leading to a decrease of 24 points.
Orange received a similar number of positive and negative comments, which neutralised its overall online reputation. Positive coverage was generated through the pending release of high definition voice calls, while negative content surrounded poor customer service, and fears that a merger between Orange and T-Mobile will evoke a leviathan of both their problems.
Poor signal was an issue for O2, as well as negative comments following several instances of its network crashing. 3 Mobile received more negative coverage in this report than in the last. Overall, however, this was recouped by the quantity of positive comments it received. These consisted of information about new offers and services, such as the implementation of Twitter.
While Vodafone and Del Monte performed the best across all sectors researched, brands with the worst scores included Ryanair, Easyjet and T-Mobile.