Facebook Fan Stats – January 2012

WAG Delivers Impressive Fan Growth – KSS, TLB, URBN, ex-JCG Ignore Social Media

Social media is fast becoming the most effective approach to boost brand awareness, understand the customer, get feedback, as well as direct traffic to a company’s web site and/or stores.

We like to track the Facebook activities and monthly fan base growth for the retailers and brands that we follow (and many others). Click here to see our compilation of monthly Facebook ‘fan’ numbers for January 2012 (‘fan’ stats as of 01.31.2012).

It is worth noting that out of the 188 retail chains/brands covered in this survey, the following were the largest percentage gainers of ‘fans’ in January 2012 versus the prior month:

Dress Barn (ASNA) Sunkist Soda (DPS) Walgreen’s (WAG) 7Up (DPS) Burger King (ex-BKC)

86.9% 82.2% 27.4% 27.3% 26.8%

Naturally, most of the above have a small base. Therefore, let’s look at the largest percentage gainers of ‘fans’ in January 2012 versus the prior month for brands with greater than 1.0 million ‘fans.’

Walgreen’s (WAG) Burger King (ex-BKC) Fanta (KO) Ann Taylor Loft (ANN) eBay (EBAY)

27.4% 26.8% 26.6% 22.8% 19.3%

Conversely, It is worth noting that out of the 188 retail chains/brands covered in this survey, the following were the lowest percentage gainers of ‘fans’ in January 2012 versus the prior month:

Kohl’s (KSS) Talbots (TLB) Pei Wei Asian Diner (PFCB) Casual Male (CMRG) Coldwater Creek (CWTR)

0.5% 0.5% 0.6% 0.7% 0.8%

Finally, it’s worth noting that out of the 188 retail chains/brands covered in this survey, the following were the lowest percentage gainers of ‘fans’ in January 2012 versus the prior year (i.e. versus January 2011):

Urban Outfitters Europe (URBN) Capital Grille (DRI) Ed Hardy (ICON) Janie & Jack (ex-GYMB) J. Crew (ex-JCG)

22.3% 28.7% 36.8% 37.6% 38.9%

Additional Notes:

Coca Cola (KO) had the largest number of ‘fans’ at the end of January 2012 with 38.1 million followed by Starbucks (SBUX) at 27.7 million.

Wal-Mart (WMT) seems to have really embraced social media over the past 12-18 months, although its growth rate slowed in January 2012. Costco (COST)… not so much.

The number of ‘fans’ at Kohl’s (KSS) dwarfs that of their department store peers. Inerestingly, the chain has 6.3 million fans versus 4.1 million at Macy’s (M).

Why would Pacific Sunwear (PSUN) have a larger ‘fan’ following than Urban Outfitters (URBN)?

Why would Cost Plus (CPWM) have a larger ‘fan’ following than Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and Pier 1 (PIR)? Mind boggling. That said, both BBBY and PIR delivered impressive ‘fan’ growth in January 2012 (i.e. they’re catching-up).

What happened to Williams-Sonoma (WSM)? The company’s 3 ‘core’ brands are bringing up the rear in the Home Furnishings sector.