Brands battle on Facebook in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Starbucks and BlackBerry are the foreign brands most effectively connecting with Facebook users in Singapore, but lag behind the Singapore Police Force in this area, a study has found.

At present, there are 2.6m Facebook members in Singapore, equivalent to 72.5% of the local online population. Some 51% of this audience is aged between 25-44 years old.

On average, the typical user logs on to the social network 26.1 times a month, spending 10.1 minutes on the site per visit.

The Singapore Police Force possessed the most popular brand page among the domestic audience, with 204,666 "likes" overall.

Christel Quek, a social media strategist at Havas Media Singapore and the author of the research report, said this was a surprise given that tools like discounts, competitions and deals were not used by the police to attract fans.

"Instead they have focused strongly on adding value to the community - even providing links to external organisations, such as the Health Sciences Authority, to answer questions from the general public," she wrote on Penn Olson.

BlackBerry took second with 192,142 followers, and was praised for uploading content including apps, hints and tips and videos, rather than purely utilising marketing material.

Resorts World Sentosa, the hotel and casino operator, was third on 158,586 "likes", ahead of Starbucks, the coffee house chain, on a comparative score of 155,509.

Charles & Keith, which makes shoes, bags and accessories, recorded a total of 155,656 followers, while Deal.com.sg, a platform similar to Groupon, had 142,611 fans.

Mig33, the gaming service, boasted 138,369 "likes", beating Singapore Airlines with 129,763, and KFC, the fast food chain, on 129,935. Channel U, the broadcaster, rounded out the top ten on 121,759.

"All the top ten Facebook pages in Singapore vary their content, and are more pre-disposed to posting photos and videos than just generic Status Updates," said Quek.

"This is an important tip which brands in general - and I'm not talking just about brands in Singapore alone - need to remember."

Data sourced from Penn Olson; additional content by Warc staff, 4 January 2012

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