World Domination by One Brand Doesn’t Exist Anymore!

I was reading an article about how Starbucks handles their social media in the Seattle Times. While that alone was interesting, what was even more interesting was when the author mentioned the top brands on social media. Here are the top 10 for each:

• Facebook: Coca-Cola, Disney, Red Bull, Converse, Starbucks, Oreo, PlayStation, Walmart, McDonald’s, and Blackberry
• Twitter: Samsung Mobile US, NASA, iTunes Music, Starbucks Coffee, Claro Ronaldo, Whole Foods Market, Samsung Mobile, Zappo’s, Disney-Pixar, and Blackberry
• YouTube: Atlantic Records, Warner Bros. Records, Rovio Entertainment, SMTOWN Official YouTube Channel, RS Official Channel, Galinha Pintadinha, Red Bull, Vale Music, Donimo Recording Co., and Sony Music India Channel
• Google+: Angry Birds, Android, Ferrari, Cadbury UK, BMW, H&M, PlayStation, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, and Burberry

Now I am not sure if you see where I am going with this, but let me spell it out—those are drastically different!

There was a time, in the not too long-a-go past where “top brand” or “best brand” was a singular thing and that brand dominated everything! Here we have the three standard social media channels as well as Google+ and each of them have drastically different “top brands”.

What does this mean for branding moving forward? What does it mean for defining “top brand”…will we continue to have a singular top brand? What does this mean for your business and the channels that you choose to have a presence on?