Four so-called luxury/prestige brands–Macy’s, Sephora skincare, Lancome cosmetics, and Michael Kors apparel–have been elevated to the “genius” level in the second annual Facebook IQ rankings of 100 iconic brands according to a new study.

The 2012 Facebook IQ Index, authored by Scott Galloway, New York University Professor of Marketing, the L2 think tank, and Buddy Media, ranks the prestige brands’ Facebook efforts across four criteria: size and growth on the platform, engagement (i.e, fan reaction and interaction, programming (i.e., brand content, responsiveness and innovation), and integration of Facebook across brand digital platforms.

The top 10–which includes a second tier category of “gifted”–is  dominated by retailers and beauty brands that apparently have been effective at facilitating higher rates of engagement through user-generated content and local page posts.

Why is this significant? According to the report, a brand’s Facebook IQ is directly correlated with shareholder value: “Our thesis is that competence on Facebook is linked to shareholder growth and is a proxy for innovation within an organization.”

Commenting on the findings of the report, Buddy Media co-founder Jeff Ragovin said:

We’ve seen tremendous growth by prestige brands on Facebook, specifically as they expand globally. The more these powerful global brands open up two-way engagement, create localized content, and amplify their efforts with social ads, the more return they will see.

Prof. Galloway added that “Facebook investors have shifted the measurement stick from promise to performance.” Galloway narrated this video summary about the 2012 Facebook IQ Index:

Here is the top-10 IQ list of the genius and gifted brands according to the report:

Genius
1. Macy’s
2. Sephora
3. Lancome (tied)
3. Michael Kors (tied)

Gifted
5. IWC
6. Smashbox
7. Swarovski
8. United Colors of Benetton
9. El Corte Inglés
10. Estée Lauder (tied)
10. Pandora (tied)

The remaining brands are classified in the Facebook IQ list as Average, Challenged, or Feeble.

Facebook “Geniuses” Identified In New Marketing Report is a post from: The Inquisitr