Telco's battle over EPL top online chatter

STARHUB   SINGTEL  BRANDTOLOGY  EDELMAN   TECHNOLOGY

• EPL, FIFA gets Singaporeans chatting
• Google most talked about brand online
• Concludes second Digital Brand Index

Singapore - SingTel and StarHub's battle over EPL and FIFA World Cup drove nearly one-fifth of online discussions in Singapore in the last quarter, according to Edelman-Brandtology's Digital Brand Index (DBI).

Now in its second quarter, the DBI reveals trends and insights and tracked over 155,060 online conversations, pertaining to 73 technology brands, within 554 influential channels.

Amplified by the heated battle between the rival telco's, football forums in Singapore saw a staggering 1,162.5% increase in conversations during the quarter, the index concluded.

"It's clear that football, as a sport, presents a unique opportunity for technology brands to engage with Singaporean enthusiasts online. The findings also re-iterate our recommendation for brand marketers to integrate off line, online and traditional media activities for greater impact on bottom line, especially around peak consumer buying seasons and events," Sanjay Nair, Director for the Technology Practice, Edelman Southeast Asia, said.

The other significant force driving online chatter was the Christmas gift giving season, which drove discussions around technology brands up by 107.2%.

This quarter's biggest ‘movers and shakers' in the buzziest brands league table were Google, which leapfrogged SingTel into first place with an increase in mentions by 244.6%, and SAP, which plummeted 26 places with a decrease of 90%.

M1 was the highest new entry in the table, racking up 7,732 mentions and securing fourth place.

"Brands owners should not only measure their online buzz and engagement levels, but also actively identify and engage influential channels and voices. This would translate to goodwill and brand preference and ultimately an increase in sales," Kelly Choo, co-founder & business development director of Brandtology, said.