John Lewis, Amazon, Bailey's Among the Christmas Word of Mouth Stars

LONDON, January 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

- Study shows significant uplift in brand buzz in November/December -

- Tesco struggles reflected in below-par WOM sentiment and volume -

Leading brands such as John Lewis, Amazon, Wii and Bailey's took advantage of the significant uplift in consumer conversations about brands during the Christmas season, posting impressive rises in consumer advocacy. These are among the major findings consumer research on brand word of mouth by the Keller Fay Group, revealed this week in its WOM Christmas Stars report.

The report features new, just released information from Keller Fay's TalkTrack Britain study, an ongoing research programme that tracks word of mouth in the UK on a continuous basis. It is the only such research that looks at both offline as well as online conversation and was launched in the UK in July 2011.

In November and December, average daily brand conversations rose 12% compared with July-October. Categories such as retail, fashion, toys and media/entertainment all saw large increases in WOM volume, as might be expected. But gains were not limited to traditionally 'seasonal' categories, with WOM volume also increasing in healthcare, for example.

Many brands posted big increases in WOM engagement, including:

    Baileys Irish Cream 311%
    The X Factor        103%
    Wii                  67%
    Amazon               65%
    H&M                  52%
    John Lewis           43%
    Morrisons            42%
    Waitrose             42%

But volume is not the full story. For Bailey's, Amazon and John Lewis, consumers generally had only good things to say. In contrast, a high proportion of comment about X-Factor was negative. Similarly, Tesco's somewhat mixed notices among consumers undoubtedly contributed to the brand's lacklustre Christmas.

For John Lewis, while its high-profile TV commercial clearly played a big part in a successful Christmas, Keller Fay data suggests that strong customer service and creative in-store merchandising also made important contributions.

In summarising the research results, Steve Thomson, Managing Director of Keller Fay UK, said, "Brands which generated significant positive word of mouth at Christmas were able to cut through the advertising clutter more effectively; outperforming your competitors for WOM in this crucial period has to be the goal for all brands."

About Keller Fay

The Keller Fay Group is the first full-service market research company focused exclusively on word of mouth (WOM) and brand advocacy. The firm's CEO, Ed Keller, is author of The Influentials and has a forthcoming book with Brad Fay. Launched in the US in 2006 and the UK in 2011, Keller Fay's TalkTrack® programme is the only continuous study of WOM in all channels (online and offline) designed to closely monitor and measure the marketing-relevant attributes of actual consumer conversations. TalkTrack is sponsored by leading agencies, brands and media organisations.