Taylor Swift or Katy Perry: Who's the Fairest of Them All?

In any endeavor, there is a fascination about who comes out on top.

Who is the fastest? Strongest? Prettiest?

Oscar Wilde captured this feeling well when he said, “I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.”

In Koski Research’s latest wave on the Engagement IQ, Yahoo! and Visa emerge as top companies, while Taylor Swift and Katy Perry are the most engaging celebrities.

Our Engagement IQ measures the strength of consumer relationships with notable people and corporations.

The score is calculated based on four key measures:

Likability score: How positive do you feel about the person or company?

Lunchability score: Would you have lunch with the person or company?

Postability score: Would you post something about the person or company on Facebook?

Readability score: Would you read an article about the person or company?

How are these Engagement IQ findings relevant to you?

They provide important strategic lessons for brands looking to engage their consumers via social media:

Lesson 1

Offer Personally Relevant Content that is Continuously Refreshed

Yahoo! tops our list this wave as the most engaging brand.

In our Engagement IQ:

Yahoo! is very well known (97% awareness) and liked

A large majority want to have lunch with Yahoo! (75%) and read an article about the company (72%)

Additionally, nearly half (46%) would post on Facebook

Yahoo! offers a combination of mass audience and personalized articles that is continuously refreshed and promotes sharing via prominent icons. With scrolling and updated headlines, links to specific areas of the site (i.e. sports, travel, etc.) and ways to personalize the content, visitors are incentivized to engage with Yahoo! frequently to stay abreast of the content.

Lesson 2

Drive Engagement Using Celebrities, Everyday Consumers and Brand Partnerships

Visa’s Engagement IQ is nearly on par with Yahoo! but for different reasons:

Visa also has high awareness (97% aware) and overall likeability

Three-quarters want to have lunch with Visa (78%) and read an article about the company (75%)

44% would post on Facebook about Visa

Visa has differentiated itself through using a mix of celebrities, everyday consumers and partner brands across all social media channels:

Celebrities ranging from Buster Posey to Jimmy Kimmel to John Legend have hash-tagged and tweeted @Visa, integrating the brand messages (i.e. ease of payments) into the social channels

Visa has leveraged its “Everywhere You Want to be” and Visa Checkout campaigns by showing everyday consumer experiences, ranging from dinners to concerts to vacations

Partnerships also drive engagement. Visa partners with other brands such as The GAP, Apple, and Orbitz – not to mention the Olympics –to connect with a wide audience

Lesson 3

Have a Consistent Social Engagement Persona

Katy Perry and Taylor Swift are the top celebrities in our Engagement IQ - they also rank number 1 and 4, respectively in Twitter followers - but Taylor Swift slightly outperforms Katy Perry on our key engagement metrics.

Both have high awareness (Katy 92% and Taylor 95%) and are well liked.

Taylor, however, is slightly more engaging for our key behavior metrics:

Accept an invitation to lunch (72% Taylor vs. 68% Katy)

Read an article about them (68% Taylor vs. 63% Katy)

Post on Facebook (45% Taylor vs. 42% Katy)

What makes each celebrity engaging is a purposeful and consistent social media strategy:

Katy Perry creates buzz around her concert tours, gives back stage access and offers lighthearted observations throughout the day

Taylor Swift, in contrast, engages through posting more candid pictures and videos of her everyday life

Long before social media, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) captured the essence of engagement. He said, “There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”