Fashion label Charles & Keith was the most talked-about brand among Singaporeans in January, according to YouGov’s BrandIndex.

Charles & Keith registered the biggest boost in word of mouth (WOM) exposure in Singapore for the month of January 2023 of all the brands we track in the market.

Data from YouGov BrandIndex, which tracks consumer perceptions toward brands on a daily basis worldwide, shows that the proportion of people who are talking about the brand saw an uplift of 12.6 percentage points during the four-week period.

The local fashion label found itself in the spotlight after a 17-year-old posted a video of herself unboxing a black Charles & Keith tote – which she described as her “first luxury bag”. The video then attracted critical comments about her fashion sensibilities.

After TikToker Zoe Gabriel opened up about how her family’s financial situation decidedly made the bag a luxury purchase, she received a wave of supportive comments, with more than a few commenters agreeing with her view on Charles & Keith.

This was later followed by the brand inviting Zoe for an exclusive tour of the company’s headquarters, which led to a dramatic shift in consumer perceptions towards the brand, as we detailed in this earlier article.


According to data from YouGov BrandIndex, Charles & Keith’s WOM exposure score rose from a low of 6.2 on Jan 10 to a high of 18.8 by Jan 31. WOM exposure is a BrandIndex metric that measures the percentage of people who have spoken with their family or friends about a particular brand in the previous two weeks.

Additionally, grocery chain Sheng Siong recorded a 9.6-point spike in WOM exposure from 27.5 on Jan 2 to 37.1 by Jan 29, while competitor NTUC FairPrice saw its WOM exposure climb 9.3 percentage points from 55.3 on Jan 1 to 21.7 by Jan 28.

Methodology

YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. A brand’s WOM exposure score is based on the question: “Which of the following brands have you talked about with friends and family in the past two weeks (whether in person, online or through social media)?” (% Yes). Data from surveys of adults aged 18 years and above residing in Singapore from Dec 1–31, 2022. WOM exposure scores are based on a four-week moving average, with the change in scores for each brand calculated by taking the difference between the highest and lowest scoring days within the period.