Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Mercedes among most loved brands in UK

Italian fashion label Gucci and French fashion house Louis Vuitton top the list as the most loved luxury brands in the United Kingdom, according to NetBase.

Gucci and Louis Vuitton are the top two luxury brands in NetBase’s Brand Passion Report 2018: Top Loved United Kingdom Brands, but also made the top 10 overall in the U.K. The report reveals how important image and video content can be to establishing strong bonds with consumers.

“Driven by visual enticement, luxury brands' strategic image and video marketing spend will generally stimulate positive engagement and reach, and generally impact brand love favorably,” said Paige Leidig, chief marketing officer at NetBase, San Francisco. “Firmly reinvented as an aspirational brand in social media, Gucci’s digital footprint and influence is evident in the fan commentary.

“In fact, those who ‘own’ their own style see a terrific partner in Gucci’s bold design, even taking it as an inspiration to be adventurous with their wardrobes,” he said.

NetBase combed through posts on social media, including more than 64 million mentions for its report.

Brand love
Fashion was found to elicit the most love out of any category in NetBase’s study.

In regards to the beauty category, Sephora earned the most share of brand love by far with 74 percent. The second place was MAC Cosmetics, far behind with only 30 percent.

Sephora is starting a conversation via its Beauty Insider Community. Image credit: Sephora

Mercedes-Benz was listed as the one of the most loved automotive brands in the U.K., as well as number 15 overall.

Nike and Adidas were not only the most popular brand within the fashion category, they were also the most popular brands overall.

NetBase’s report also revealed that image and video positively impact brand love on social media. These pieces of content elicit higher paid-to-earned media ratios.

The She's Mercedes racing team in its social video.

The difference between like and love is vast in regards to brands and consumers. The stronger the relationship a consumer has with a brand, the less important price is as a factor for purchase decision-making.

Monitoring mentions
Previous global rankings from NetBase assessed Gucci as the most-discussed luxury brand on social media overall, but found that Tiffany & Co. and Louis Vuitton elicit stronger feelings and Chanel sees greater passion.

NetBase’s Retail Brands Industry Report reveals that passion and sentiment for luxury brands are mostly driven by the search for authenticity. However, as a whole, the luxury retail sector only drove a 10 percent share of mention volume (see more).

Luxury brands should continue to push their social media strategies to combat the pervasiveness of Amazon, as it maintains the highest mentioned brand passion, according to another report by NetBase.

While Amazon is the most talked about, U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co. sees the strongest brand loyalty with users taking to social platforms to discuss their passion for the marketer. The findings suggest that even though big brands such as Amazon and department stores see the highest volume, smaller targeted brands see more enthusiasm, which can be more beneficial in the long run (see more).

“Gucci, fourth in overall social rank, is the most-loved fashion brand in the U.K.,” Mr. Leidig said. “Notably, however, Gucci also has the most negative mentions, in stark contrast with second place in the luxury industry, Louis Vuitton’s mere 2,728 negative mentions.”