Big brands are some of the most highly scrutinised players in the social media space. Up until a few days ago, Elon Musk’s take-over of Twitter was dominating online chatter. Now, everyone has zeroed in on another corporate target – Adidas.
The German sportswear brand is no stranger to social media scandal after its ill-timed “You survived the Boston Marathon” email blast a mere four years after the sporting tragedy. Adidas has been at the forefront of everybody’s minds this week, but this time it’s not because of something they said – it’s because of their partnership (now ceased) with Kanye West, and by association, his incredibly public anti-Semitic remarks.
To get a deeper look into how people were talking about Adidas, we headed to Zavy’s social listening add-on Radar.
Radar measures both mentions – how many times posts mention the brand across social – and brand sentiment – how many of these posts speak positively about the brand versus negatively.
Have a look at the graph below.
According to Radar, even though posts about Adidas hit an all-time high (mentions), most of these posts were resoundingly negative (sentiment).
Because Zavy gives us the unique ability to measure not only what people are talking about, but how they are talking about it, we can see exactly how people are feeling about Adidas right now.
And the news isn’t good.
Sure, lots of people are talking about the brand – but not in a good way.
A sentiment score as low as the one displayed via Adidas’ data above indicates an overwhelmingly negative impression. We see sadness and anger as the predominant emotions surfacing on social media posts.
We can predict that sentiment as low as this will have a negative impact on customer trust, which in turn will have a negative impact on sales.
Radar’s sentiment data clearly shows what marketers and consumers have always intuited - not all publicity is good publicity.
The tone of public engagement with a brand matters. We know trust is a determining factor in brand loyalty, and a brand mistrusted by customers will lose out to its competitors. Put simply: if you’re trending on Twitter – you better make sure it’s for a good reason.
So what can corporations do to keep ahead of the curve when controversy strikes?
The most important thing for a brand in the middle of a scandal playing out on social media is to get (and stay) informed. When determining when/how to respond, your customers’ feelings about your brand should be your North Star.
Tracking social media sentiment on Zavy is one way to ensure that you have reliable and timely access to public opinion on the issues impacting on your brand. That way, you can make sure you say the right thing – at the right time – and know that you’re not flying blind.
The effect of every post you make can be observed in Zavy, allowing you flexibility in your social media approach while customers’ positive and negative feelings remain in flux.
Not only this, but Radar gives you the ability to see what other trending posts were made on the day to help give you context for your sentiment rising and falling. Context is important – and Radar takes this into account so you can see how your performance fits into the bigger picture.
On top of sentiment, Zavy also provides other valuable insights for marketers looking to measure the health of their brand on social media.
Whether it’s more information around engagement that you’re after, or a content strategy that needs refinement, Zavy is the best way to quantify the effect of your brand-building efforts on your bottom line.
Subscribe for the latest social media insights, trends, analytics and more!
BlogContactSubscribePrivacy PolicyLoginPricingWebsite Privacy Policy
.png)
