In our latest study, Social Media in The City, we found that only 20% of the FTSE 100 are actively engaging on the professional social network LinkedIn. The rest, we conclude, are missing out on opportunities to drive word of mouth by engaging its members, who now number over 187 million.

Key findings

• 96% of the FTSE 100 companies have a corporate presence on LinkedIn with a combined 2.6...
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Contrary to expectation, markets are very emotional places…and individual share prices are often influenced by sentiment as much as the fundamentals. Every IR and PR professional knows this and they know the power that 3^rd parties like the financial press have to drive sentiment. Many believe that social media can have a similar impact but there’s not been much hard data to support that view. However as reported, our recent Social Media and the City...

The Social Media in the City report we launched this week looks at the comparative social media performance of the FTSE 100 companies. But we also looked at how FTSE 100 sectors with 3 or more companies perform: to see how average sector performances compare; and to highlight any major variations within sector. There are some surprises. The table below, ranked based on the average Social Performance Index (SPI)...

We had a feeling all was not well in corporate use of social media... Our new Social Media in the City report, published today in association with the PRCA, shows that the majority of the FTSE100 are failing to engage effectively with social networks. As a result they may be at a competitive disadvantage by not connecting well with corporate stakeholders. Our research also suggests a link between social media performance and share price movement. There...

We’re just starting our study of how well the UK’s largest public companies, the FTSE 100, perform on social media platforms. But does a good social media performance actually matter for corporate audiences? We wouldn’t be in business if we didn’t think so, and it’s reassuring that a majority FTSE 100 companies apparently do too… or at least they think it matters enough to have a social media presence of...

Has ‘the City’, that bastion of British financial institutions, heard about social media yet? Well some parts certainly have. The Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority and the City of London Corporation itself have all embraced social media to at least some degree. But what of the big companies listed on London's Stock Exchange? Anecdotal evidence is that participation is patchy so we thought we would carry out a comparative study of the FTSE-100, the largest...

In between crunching the numbers for our epic 'Socialympics' report, in the last couple of weeks we took a look at how effective the leading US retailers' social media activity was during the critical 'Back to School' period. MaryLee Sachs, CEO and CMO of our US partner Changing MO LLC, summarised the findings last week. Here's our take. Yet again, we find that the most powerful brands (i.e. those with a...

In recent weeks, I’ve been asked by a number of mainstream media reporters whether an Olympics ambush marketing strategy can pay off and allow a non-sponsor to outperform a sponsor, especially in social media? The obvious answer is, in principle, yes – despite ever-tighter IOC and LOCOG rules. But it’s all in the execution – as a recent comparison between adidas and Nike shows. Sportswear firm and major Olympics sponsor adidas has already consolidated its position in...

PR agencies sell their clients advice on how to 'manage' social media. But how good are they at doing it for themselves? Our view is that big agency networks offering social media advice must walk the talk. Those that cannot show they know what they are doing for their own brands will lose out in the battle to advise others.