social-brands
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iPhone, Apple, iPod in top 10 social brands of the year
Put on your buzzword protectors, because here comes a whole hive: Vitrue, a company that "helps organizations leverage consumer-generated content" has released a list of the top 100 "social brands" for 2008, according to their "Social Media Index," which... meh, we give up. Basically, they have a list of the most-talked about brands of last year, and surprise, surprise, the iPhone tops the charts. We're not much for any company that uses the phrase "paradigm shift" completely unironically, so "Vitrue" isn't exactly the end-all authority here, but you have to admit, no gadget, device, or tech brand has been more dissected and discussed and "empowered" (ugh) than Apple's own iPhone.And speaking of Apple, they're sitting on the list at number three, and the iPod brand reached number 7. The Mac brand comes in at number 16, and AT&T is two steps below T-Mobile and Verizon at number 64. Say what you want about Apple and the day-to-day issues of the iPhone or their ongoing battles with developers, but when it comes to "mindshare" (look, now they've got us doing it!), the Cult of Mac reigns supreme.[via Joystiq]
Xbox, Nintendo & PlayStation make Top Social Brands list
The connection between a person and a commercial brand is sometimes enough to start fanboy wars, verbal tiffs and even six-round thumb wrestling matches. So, it should come as no surprise that social advertising consultant Vitrue created a list of the Top Social Brands of 2008. Oh, you'll be pleased to know that the gaming industry's "Big Three" (more like, The Only Three) all made the list. Why else would we be writing about it?As far as social gaming brands go, Xbox came out on top at the #5 position, which was, interestingly enough, just ahead of the grande-non-fat-iced-latte-sugar-free-carmel Starbucks brand. Sony (the company, not just its gaming division) is listed at #9, Microsoft at #11, Nintendo at #13, PlayStation at the #15 position, and Sega (wow, really?) landed at #72. For whatever reason, a solo appearance by Wii, or even its sidekick, DS, was not to be found in the top 100.We're not sure if the point of this list was to grant select fanboys bragging rights or not, but we ask that you please keep the verbal tiffs to a minimum and all thumb wrestling activities restricted to the playground.(In case you were wondering, the ever-trendy iPhone claimed 2008's social brand crown.)[Via Major Nelson]
