Coca-Cola and Tropicana Quench Consumer Thirst while Pepsi Goes Flat

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - October 10, 2017) - Beverage brands have long held a strong place within American culture and are also some of the biggest spenders on marketing and advertising, and the category is among the most talked about. To help brand marketers better understand the consumer conversations taking place about today's top beverage brands both online and offline, Engagement Labs has released its TotalSocial^® rankings of the top-performing non-alcoholic beverage brands in the U.S. with respect to consumer conversations.

The report looks at how each brand has performed socially over the past six months and compares it to the results of its May 2017 ranking. The analysis, which is unique in that it combines offline (face-to-face) and online (social media) consumer conversations, is based on Engagement Labs' proprietary TotalSocial data, which continuously measures the most important drivers of brand performance in terms of social media and word of mouth conversations.

According to Engagement Labs' data, strong offline influence scores helped Coca-Cola jump to the top spot, indicating there is an influential audience advocating on behalf of the brand. Coca-Cola has also been evolving its portfolio of product offerings this year in an effort to better align with consumers' concerns about sugar and empty calories -- which is paying off by sparking conversations with everyday influencers who are taking notice.

"Coca-Cola has climbed up to the number one spot, while its rival, Pepsi, was pushed out of the top ten altogether. Pepsi, which was previously ranked at seven, dropped to 11 due to a decline in its offline and online sentiment scores," said Ed Keller, CEO of Engagement Labs. "For example, even though Pepsi's controversial ad with Kendall Jenner launched in April, it continued to stir negative consumer conversations months after."

Gatorade, which was previously ranked at number one, dropped to three driven by its decline in online and offline brand sharing which measures how much a brand's marketing is being talked about.

Folgers Coffee made its debut in the top ten jumping from 11 to eighth in the ranking. Over the last six months, the brand improved its overall online TotalSocial score. In particular, its online influencer score skyrocketed. In March 2017, Folgers promoted its jingle contest in partnership with country music star Chris Young, which asked consumers to record and upload their own video singing a jingle, which were then voted on by participants to select a winner.

Another brand that made its debut in the top ten ranking is Canada Dry. Canada Dry's jump in the rankings is due largely to its improved offline influence score. For example, the brand launched an extension to its "Relax Harder" campaign, which encouraged consumers to take time to relax and enjoy life, by introducing "Busy Is a 4-Letter Word," a campaign which leveraged owned social media, paid digital ads and influencer outreach.

"A lot of the shifts in our beverage ranking are due to improved performance among everyday influencers," stated Keller. "Influencers are not to be underestimated, and most importantly, they should be engaged with. They're also not necessarily mega-stars -- rather they are our friends and neighbors who keep up with what's new, and are often sought out for their advice and recommendations. Everyday influencers are receptive to brand messages, and when they find it interesting, they share what they learn. This is a significant opportunity for consumer goods brands to take note and learn the lessons from these beverage leaders."

To learn more about Engagement Labs and how to increase your brand's word of mouth in real life and online, reach out at: totalsocial@engagementlabs.com.

About Engagement Labs
Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL) provides the world's leading brands with a unique and powerful data and technology solution to drive sales growth and improve marketing ROI. Our TotalSocial^® technology combines online social media listening metrics with the world's only ongoing measurement of offline word-of-mouth conversations into a single dashboard, to provide marketers with the ability to measure performance, diagnose areas of weakness and opportunity and identify specific strategies and tactics to increase sales and improve marketing ROI. TotalSocial is an "always-on" proprietary scoring system, based on the most important drivers of brand performance: Volume, Sentiment, Brand Sharing and Influence. TotalSocial tracks 500 brands across 16 major industry categories within the U.S., and 350 brands across 18 industry categories in the UK.

To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.

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