Top Brands of 2012
December 20 2012
Now we've left 2012 behind us and moved into 2013, Ebuzzing is looking back at the top brands of the last year, with a special focus on online platforms, technology and automotive brands.
The ranking is based on the score calculated by Ebuzzing Labs by looking at the mentions of each brand across social networks and media. We plotted each brand’s position in our monthly ranking, taking the average position for the twelve months. Here are your top brands of 2012.
Apple is consistently the leading brand throughout 2012, the release of the iPhone 5, iPad Mini, and on-going court cases with Samsung dominate their mentions on social networks and media.
Facebook follows close behind with Facebook IPO, announcement of 1 billion users, and the purchase of Instagram making up part of a very eventful year for the leading social network.
Twitter is third with leading stories including the occurrence of countries blocking content, Twitter leading the field in mobile advertising, and the arrival of the Pope to the social network.
Google lies fourth with their privacy policy legal issues, the release of the Nexus tablet, and the release of a replacement Maps App for iPhone dominating their top stories for 2012.
Sony are fifth following a busy year with the release of their portable games console PS Vita, privacy issues with the hacking of the PlayStation Network, and the release of the Sony Vaio T13 Ultrabook.
The Top 10 is completed with mobile brands Android and Nokia, more technology brands Microsoft and Nintendo, and the leading banking brand Barclays.
*Amazon is not included in this ranking due to data being unavailable for Q1
Top brands of 2012 by sector
The Top Brand Sectors of 2012 are determined based on the highest combined score of the top 5 brands in any given sector. In 2012 the leading three Sectors are: Technology, Online Platforms and Automotive.
Technology
Apple dominates the technology sector, with Google and Sony close behind, before Microsoft and Nintendo complete the Top 5. All of the leading technology brands also feature in the general ranking top 10, and as such the technology sector is the leading brand sector of 2012 based on social network and media mentions.
Apple and Google are consistently the highest ranking technology brands in the UK with very minimal movement throughout 2012.
Nintendo saw a rise in their brand ranking to 8th in June and November which was due to their E3 press launch and the release of the Wii U respectively. Sony saw a peak of 4th in August which coincided with news of a Q1 profit loss and a lower forecast for the year ahead.
Online Platforms
Facebook are the leading online platform, closely followed by Twitter in second place, with a significant gap opening up in our general ranking before YouTube, EBay and LinkedIn complete the Top 5. The most notable absentee is Pinterest, who have made big strides in 2012 but ultimately fall short in our ranking owing to their late arrival in the mainstream.
Facebook and Twitter are the most consistently talked about Online Platforms, holding a steady position in our brands ranking throughout the year.
Facebook’s movement into the number 1 position in May and June ties in with the Facebook IPO launch, which generated a lot of interest and discussion. The sharp movement from LinkedIn for June ties in with the news of up to a million passwords stolen during a hacking.
Automotive
