Engagement Levels for Indian Brands on Facebook Higher Than Global Brands; but Engagement Dropping Sharply for Most Indian Brands

MUMBAI, September 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Ketchum Sampark Social Media Engagement Study 2012

With a rapid growth in social media platforms in India in the last one year, Indian brands are growing their fan bases faster than global brands.

The Ketchum Sampark Social Media Engagement Study 2012 clearly brings out that Indian brands across categories are growing their fan bases faster than global brands by 7.78%-15.53% across categories. Overall, the combined fan base of the 100 Indian brands surveyed grew by a whopping 105 percent.

Commenting on the study, Mr. Ajay Sharma, Managing Partner, Ketchum Sampark, said, "Internet penetration as well as social media usage from outside the top 20 Indian cities is now estimated at more than 60 percent of overall usage in India. That coupled with the growing use of internet over mobile devices offers a significant avenue for brands to connect with customers not just in Tier 1 markets but also in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets using the power of social media. Even more than the growth in fan bases, the ability to drive engagement will become the most relevant part of any campaign."

Ketchum Sampark Social Media Engagement Study 2012 set out to understand levels of engagement of customers with Indian brands and the triggers for high engagement in each category.

Key insights from the Ketchum Sampark Social Media Engagement Study 2012

• Engagement levels for top Indian brands in 8 out of the 10 categories surveyed are now higher than global brands. Jewelry/watches and education are the only two categories where the engagement levels for global brands continue to be higher than top Indian brands.
• Average engagement levels for Indian brands continue to be high (1.96% - 8.11% across categories), however for 7 of the 10 categories the engagement levels have dropped drastically.
  • Average decline in engagement for Indian brands was witnessed highest in Banks and Financial services at (-67.41%), followed by Telecom at (-39.25%) and Automobiles at (-39.91%).
  • The three categories that had an increase in engagement levels were Health/Beauty (83.76%), Food and Beverages (49.83%) and Travel & tourism (38.89%).
• Engagement levels for 26 of the 100 Indian brands surveyed were higher than 5 percent of the fan base in August 2012.
• Despite the overall strong growth in fans, engagement levels for 41 of the 100 brands were lower than 2 percent of the fan base in August 2012. (Reference point: Coca-Cola, the largest brand on Facebook currently has engagement levels of 2.0+ percent).
• Beauty brands in India have the highest average engagement rate across categories at 8.11%.

For further details on the categories and the brands surveyed, kindly access presentation of the study on the following link: http://www.slideshare.net/trup07/ketchum-sampark-engagement-study

About the Ketchum Sampark Social Media Engagement Study 2012:

The Ketchum Sampark Social Media Engagement Study 2012 analyzed 100 Indian brands and 100 global brands across 10 categories. The analysis covered growth in fan base and engagement levels on Facebook during January 1, 2012-August 30, 2012.

The 10 categories include Apparel/Retail, Automobiles, Bank and Financial Services, Education, Food/Beverages, Health/Beauty, Jewelry/Watches, Technology products, Telecom and Travel and Tourism. The engagement for Indian brands was analyzed on the basis of growth in fans and increases or decreases in engagement levels on the Facebook metric of "people talking about" and then compared the performance of Indian brands with top global brands in these categories.

About Ketchum Sampark:

Ketchum Sampark is India's leading strategic communications consulting firm with a proven track record of building leadership positions for the corporate and brands across categories. With over 18 years of experience and seven offices covering more than 80 markets across India, Ketchum Sampark offers deep understanding of the cultural, commercial, political and media characteristics of each regional Indian market.

Ketchum Sampark is an integral part of the Ketchum network. Ketchum ranks among the largest and most geographically diverse public relations agencies in the world with operations in more than  70 countries through over 100 offices and affiliates. For more information, please visit: http://www.ketchumsampark.com.

Primary Media Contact: Kevin Braganza, kevin.braganza@ketchumsampark.com, 91-9819156735