Our last blog talked about America’s changing brand buzz since Covid-19, noting that WOM levels held steady during COVID-19 era, with certain categories gaining momentum during the pandemic.
Now, Engagement Labs takes a closer look at the brands that have the greatest WOM strength as we prepare to enter the summer months, with hopes and dreams for a return to a more normal America this summer. To do so, we, examine the top brands by industry sector and report on those who’s WOM has grown over the past quarter versus the prior quarter. These are the brands that are showing the most improved performance. As more states plan to fully reopen, the ranker gives an outlook to what may come.
We start with a category view. With warmer months approaching and vaccination numbers surging, Americans are ready to hit the road. We see WOM about brands in travel services increasing the most (+13% as a category, led by Expedia, Airbnb and Southwest). After travel, the categories with the biggest WOM growth are automotive (+9%, led by Toyota, Ford and Honda), telecom (+5% led by Comcast, Tracfone and Cricket), and financial (+3% led by Robinhood, Navy Federal Credit Union and Wells Fargo).
WOM Growth by Sector
Meanwhile, some categories continue to have challenges: children’s products (-23%), beauty and personal care (-14%), sports (-8%), and household products (-8%) have each decreased dramatically for the same time period.
At the individual brand level, across nearly 1000 brands Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer are all among the top 5 brands in all industries in terms of growth in offline WOM, joined by Toyota and Home Depot.
Here are the top 3 brands by category.
WOM is a proven indicator of sales and brand health. Congratulations to those brands that are getting ready for summer with the wind behind their sails (and sales).
This article originally appeared on the Engagement Labs blog; reprinted with permission.
