Social Media Brand Battles: Five Rivals on Twitter

Twitter Brand Battles

*Please note all metrics are recorded as of 5/1/2015

Round 2… FIGHT! That’s right patrons, it’s time to once again witness the sweet science of pugilism, as we pit rival brands against each other in all out punch up pandemonium!

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In our last donnybrook, we saw victors such as as Star Wars, iPhone, and Marvel vanquish their long time foes in various slugfests strewn across social media.

We used Facebook Likes as our scorecard, using the de facto giant’s Like metric as our boxing gloves. For today’s bout, we’re migrating to Twitter (insert bad bird migration joke) to deliver the death blows. Before you’re screaming at your monitor or tablet telling us Twitter followers aren't important, and don’t make X better than Y, let us stop you right there… We know! This is merely a fun exercise. Your opinions are still safely superior in your own mind!

Like before, and with any organized punch up, we first have to review some ground rules. If you read my last blog, you’ll know my one and only rule was each participant had to be a neutral faction. This means no Al Capone vs. Elliot Ness or Ghengis Khan vs. The World… We’re pretty much sticking with that. Kapish??? Okay, let’s get going!

Yankees vs. Red Sox: Tale of the Tape

For our first tête–à–tête, we chose a legendary rivalry brewed from the establishment of America’s pastime and fueled by one of it’s greatest heroes. The Big Bambino himself Babe Ruth! When the famous slugger was traded by the Red Sox owner after the 1919 season to finance a Broadway production (true story), the Red Sox began a 81 year curse devoid of a championship. This only strengthened the already geographically strong rivalry, throwing flames on it with a classic case of haves/have-nots.

Taking a quick look at the Yankees and Red Sox verified Twitter accounts we were able to ascertain a winner:

Winner: New York Yankees

Although I am sure George Herman Ruth’s ghost has no influence over the Twittersphere, it looks like “The Curse of the Bambino” has carried over to social media. NYY wins this one handily with over 300k+ more followers.

New York Yankees 1.38M KO’s Boston Red Sox 1.03M

*Let it be noted, as a Torontonian and loyal Blue Jays fan neither of these accounts were followed :)

The Beatles vs. The Stones: Tale of the Tape

Emily Hanes and Metric once posed the question “Who would you rather be, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?” It’s a simple question, but a really awesome one that can give a lot of perspective on someone. Do you take the longevity, attitude, and 12 bar blues vibe of The Stones? Or do you strive for the artistry and dichotomy of a group that had only a few years together, but whose compositions are the closest thing we’ve seen to indelible in pop music? It’s a tough choice… Let’s see how Twitter feels:

Winner: The Beatles

Amazing how a band that has been defunct since 1970 can beat these still touring classic rock giants. It must be a testament to how people connected to the great songs of McCartney, Lennon, Harrison, and Starr.

The Beatles 2.7M KO The Rolling Stones 1.53M

Playstation vs Xbox: Tale of the Tape

Our third fight may be one of the message boards favourites. Nothing fuels fanboyism as much as the video gaming industries’ console wars. It’s understandable, shell out north of $300 for one of these bad boys, you want to be vindicated by your purchase, especially if you’re younger and not exactly flush with cash. As a long time gamer, I always found this battle interesting. Now, I just want to play the best games and couldn’t care less where I played them. Let’s take a look at how this one went:

Winner: PlayStation

This one officially surprises me. I thought with a strong North America fanbase Microsoft’s Xbox might run away with this one. I guess Sony’s extremely strong global roots, and history in the gaming space paid off.

PlayStation 6.57M KO’s Xbox 5.16M

For those curious, Nintendo has a plethora of Twitter handles, none of them being their definitive. Nintendo of America for example has 1.53M followers.  

Coke vs Pepsi: Tale of the Tape

Okay, maybe Pepsi has always played second fiddle to Coca-Cola, but that doesn’t deny that Pepsico managed to build a massive empire encompassing former and current brands such as Gatorade, Frito-Lays, Quaker Oats, Tropicana, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. If that’s #2, sign me up! Regardless, of the tale of the tape, let’s take a look at how this one went:

Winner: Coca-Cola

In our closest battle, yet Coke just edges out Pepsi, in a decision the judges had a tough time making. Do your thing Pepsi, #2 looks good on you!

Coca-Cola 2.96M KO’s Pepsi 2.84M

Gibson vs Fender: Tale of the Tape

For our last battle, I thought I would go a little more niche, but none the more iconic. As a lifelong guitar player, you often hear these arguments amongst musicians. The bottom line, what feels right to you, play it! I’ve played both for long periods of time and feel that each model, beyond just the brand, is completely different. Regardless, let’s see how this played out:

Winner: Gibson

This is really surprising to me. Not just because of the immense gap enjoyed by Gibson, but by the fact that Fender clearly needs to pick up the Social Media game. Firstly, the above Twitter account was the account linked to from the www.fender.com website. It has a suprisingly low number of followers for an international brand, and it is not even a verified account! This is officially a first round knockout for Gibson.

Gibson 1.01M  KO’s Fender 392K

Round 3?

I hope you enjoyed round two of my social media brand battles. As always, if you want to connect with me on Twitter and discuss any of these fisticuffs or who you’d like to see go head-to-head next round, you can follow, or Tweet me. Also, be sure to check our YouTube channel for helpful, and informative Internet marketing videos. I’ll see you next time for round 3!