New research by Good – a leading UK brand and digital consultancy – ranks the online performance of the top 12 UK White Goods brands
Created in response to brands facing a tidal wave of data, but a lack of insight – the reports distil data into insightful, provocative and actionable triggers.
Hotpoint tops the table
Hotpoint leads the field by focusing on the customer experience in the most important channel: mobile. Their focus on optimising for mobile over desktop means a better overall customer experience. It combines this with a strong social media performance – thanks to a responsive customer support function, secondary brand-building content, and an unrivalled share of search. Its strong all-round performance places it a point ahead of its nearest rivals AEG and SMEG who came a close second and third respectively.
Chris Lumsden, Founder at Good said: “There are lots of excellent research tools out there – from brand tracking to social media engagement; but they’re too siloed to be really useful. Our Clarity Reports take big data and make it small enough to be actionable. This provides brand owners an objective benchmark for their brand against the competition and highlights areas for improvement.”
Candy and Belling bring up the rear
The brands that score poorly are failing to provide a customer focused experience. The softer measures of brand and language take their toll here making these brands feel cold and mechanical compared to some of the more customer orientated competition. Candy and Belling were both significantly behind on the brand and language metrics representing a big gap to Hotpoint.
Full rankings
Recipe for success
“It’s critical that brands are clear about what makes them distinctive and that they’re disciplined and consistent in applying this regardless of the channel” adds Lumsden.
Central to a successful online customer experience are three key strategies.
1. Create a simple suite of distinctive brand assets consistently applied.
2. Develop a human and consistent tone of voice that goes beyond headlines.
3. A razor-sharp understanding of your customers’ journey and the role your brand plays in removing barriers to purchase.
The next sector that Good will evaluate is Financial Services. To find out more and to register for future reports visit www.wearegood.com/clarity
Methodology
A Clarity Report is a distillation of 55 metrics over 7 sections using open-source data combined with 17 years of brand consulting for some of the world’s largest businesses. The reports will help marketers and brand owners understand how their brands are performing against the competition.
1. Brand Assets – a brand is made up of a collection of ‘assets’ from logo and colours to typography and imagery. How consistent and distinctive is the brand across all channels?
2. Language – brand starts with language. It humanises the brand and sets the tone for all interactions. Does the brand employ a clear tone of voice and is it consistent across all channels?
3. Website – A measure of the website’s effectiveness, making sure it offers a solid experience for the customer, rooted back to its brand.
4. Mobile – How well optimised is the brand for mobile? Too often desktop sites are forced into a mobile format which is a compromised customer experience.
5. Social – Forget followers and big numbers – have the social media accounts been set up as a brand experience? And do they outperform the feeling of a more generic account?
6. Digital Marketing – Customers must know that a brand exists for them to buy. What marketing is there behind the brand to get it out there?
7. Share of Search – Where the rubber hits the road – a measure of how well known a brand is within its category. Share of Search ranking reveals if the brand work is paying off in the long term.