Macy’s, Sephora, Lancôme, and Michael Kors Score "Genius" Rankings and Top Spots on Second Annual Facebook IQ Index

New York, NY (PRWEB) June 12, 2012

Macy’s, Sephora, Lancôme, and Michael Kors are ranked as Facebook “Geniuses” in the second annual L2 Facebook IQ Index®. The Index, developed in partnership with Buddy Media, the social enterprise software of choice for the world’s largest advertisers, measures the aptitude of 100 luxury and prestige brands across Beauty, Fashion, Specialty Retail, and Watches & Jewelry on Facebook, the world’s largest social media platform. The study, authored by Scott Galloway, NYU Professor of Marketing, a team of experts from L2, and Buddy Media, ranks the prestige brands’ Facebook efforts across four criteria: Size & Growth, Engagement, Programming, and Integration. Each brand was scored against more than 350 qualitative and quantitative data points, and assigned a Facebook IQ ranking of Genius, Gifted, Average, Challenged, or Feeble.

The L2 Facebook IQ top 10 remains dominated by retailers and beauty brands that have been deft at facilitating higher rates of engagement via user generated content and local page posts. The Watches & Jewelry industry has the lowest average Facebook IQ; though they record the highest engagement on their pages.

Download an Excerpt from the Report and Watch the Video Highlighting Key Findings: http://www.l2thinktank.com/research/facebook-iq-index-2012/

Top Ten Ranking:

1. Macy's
2. Sephora
3. Lancôme (tied)
3. Michael Kors (tied)
5. IWC
6. Smashbox
7. Swarovski
8. United Colors of Benetton
9. El Corte Inglés
10. Estée Lauder (tied)
10. Pandora (tied)

“Facebook investors have shifted the measurement stick from promise to performance,” says L2 founder and NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway. “Similarly, the marketing and digital professionals at prestige organizations, charged with building and engaging communities on the world’s biggest platform, will face heightened expectations and scrutiny. As tomorrow becomes today for prestige execs, the issue of what, and how, return is achieved on Facebook takes center stage.”

“We’ve seen tremendous growth by prestige brands on Facebook, specifically as they expand globally,” says Jeff Ragovin, Chief Strategy Officer & Co-Founder, Buddy Media, “The more these powerful global brands open up two-way engagement, create localized content, and amplify their efforts with social ads, the more return they will see.”

Key findings of the second annual L2 Facebook IQ Index® include:

•     While community growth is up, engagement across prestige communities has declined, with the average interaction rate or the percentage of the community liking or commenting on brand posts declining almost 50% year-over-year
•     The move to the Timeline interface in and of itself does not appear to be a growth driver; Prestige brands added 125% more fans in the 50 days prior to the Timeline launch, than they did in the 50 days after the mandatory switch to the new interface
•     More than 20% of prestige brands still do not engage in any two-way conversation and one-third prohibit fan posts on their Facebook walls
•     41% of brands now maintain at least one local country page; local Facebook pages have grown at double the rate of Global and U.S. prestige communities and register 50% higher engagement

About L2
L2 is a think tank for digital innovation. Founded by NYU Stern professor of marketing Scott Galloway, L2 helps prestige brands navigate the digital marketing landscape through events, research and advisory services. The L2 Digital IQ Index® is the largest and most robust study of its kind. Rankings are published annually across industries including Fashion, Watches & Jewelry, Specialty Retail, Beauty, Travel, and Fragrance. For more information, visit: http://www.l2thinktank.com.

About Buddy Media
Buddy Media is the social enterprise technology of choice for eight of the world's top ten global advertisers, empowering them to build and maintain relationships with their consumers in a connections-based world.

The Buddy Media social marketing suite helps brands build powerful connections globally with its scalable, secure architecture and data-driven customer insights from initial point of contact through point of purchase. Buddy Media is one of the most award winning social enterprise software companies, winning the prestigious TechCrunch "Crunchie" Award for Best Enterprise application, named to the Advertising Age 2011 "Digital A-list," and CEO and Founder Mr. Buddy Media was selected as 2011 New York Entrepreneur of the Year® by Ernst and Young.

Buddy Media is the only company to be named a charter Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer, LinkedIn Certified Developer and Google Engagement Solutions partner. For more information, visit http://www.BuddyMedia.com.