With October over, the Rugby World Cup coming to an end and the build-up starting for the Christmas season, it’s time to take a look at the latest movings and shakings in social media.
Air NZ taps a rugby moment
Air New Zealand has maintained their consistent lead over the last month. Air NZ have well and truly tapped into the ongoing cultural moment around the All Blacks and the Rugby World Cup to resonate strongly with Kiwis. Their ‘Air All Blacks’ campaign has been running across their social media channels for a couple of months now with massive levels of engagement and positive sentiment, with the top 3 posts in October being shared by Air NZ. The top post was by far Air NZ’s humorous faux “safety” video in the lead up to the NZ vs Ireland quarter final match, attracting 17k likes, 15k shares and 8.8k comments.
This level of engagement is not surprising. We know that posts that tap into cultural moments generate 7 times more engagement than other types of content such as competitions, product information and sponsorships. This is important because the higher the level of engagement with a brand’s content, the more ROI the brand will see on their social media activity. Cultural Moments also see a higher shares-to-like ratio versus other types of content, and they also receive more positive sentiment.
Battle of the retailers
This month also saw strong performance from big retailers Countdown, New World, Farmers and The Warehouse. A common play for retail brands, all showcased some sort of giveaway or competition. For example, Famers giving an OPI Neon nail polish x Converse shoes prize which generated 2.9k likes, 4.7k comments and 101 shares. These types of content are great for boosting short term engagement and awareness about a new product or event – but we can see that they don’t have the same long-term brand building impacts as Air NZ’s culturally driven campaigns.
McDonald’s and KFC going strong
Fast food also continues to dominate with KFC and McDonalds. KFC has seen an uplift in performance towards the end of October, boosted by a strong presence on YouTube and 1.3m video views. McDonald’s has seen a positive level of sentiment (17 percent) attached to their brand over the last month, driven largely by positive product posts and the McDonald’s Monopoly campaign.
Top performers by channel
Facebook has been dominated by Air NZ and KFC this month, with Countdown taking out third place. Government agency NZTA have over-indexed on their Zavy Score on Twitter, however Air NZ continues to dominate this channel overall. On Instagram, Air NZ again is the top performer on this visual channel, however, McDonald’s and The Warehouse are also performing strongly. YouTube is more of an even playing field, with Air NZ taking the back seat and the likes of McDonald’s, Countdown, KFC and Mitre 10 taking the lead.
