UK consumers are fascinated by fashion and confection, and brands in these fields are the most successful on Facebook, according to a study of the top 300 brands by Socialbakers.
The data reveals that Burberry leads the British brand pack when it comes to Facebook fans, with more than 8.6m fans, nearly three times that of its nearest rival Skittles, with 2.8m.
Burberry has seen tremendous growth over the last nine months, gaining a staggering 4.7m fans.
Burberry is not the only fashion brand fast building a Facebook allegiance. Other brands in the fan count top 20 for growth in 2011 include ASOS, which ranks third for fan count growth, and Pepe Jeans, which ranks sixth.
Hot on their heels with strong fan growth compared to their fan base at the start of the year is House of Fraser, which saw overall growth of 1,160pc, just behind PayPal and Volkswagen at the top of the leaderboard, and John Lewis came in fourth, with growth of 764pc.
Another sector dominating UK social media brand fascination is confection, which currently occupies four of the top 5 brand spots for overall Facebook fans.
It seems the British public have a sweet spot for aligning themselves with their chocolate or sweet of choice. Skittles was No 2 for overall fans (2.9m), followed by Cadburys Creme Egg at no 3, Wispa at No 4 and Maltesers at No 5.
“The UK is the fifth-largest country globally for Facebook users and has one of the highest percentages of Facebook penetration per person at 48pc,” Jan Rezab, CEO and co-founder, Socialbakers explained.
“Socially savvy brands like Burberry and Skittles are tapping into the huge potential of social platforms to create a dialogue with the consumer,” Rezab said.
