PlayStation - most followed entertainment brand on Facebook and Twitter

72% (12.4 million) of the 17.2 million online searches made by UK consumers for entertainment-related products in April, related to gaming consoles & games, reveals the latest research from Greenlight.

The report, ‘Entertainment Retail April 2010’, covers CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray DVDs and gaming consoles & games. Greenlight used industry data to classify 3,000 of the most popular search terms used to ascertain the 60 most visible websites, brands and aggregators in natural and paid search and compile to Greenlight’s social media popularity index (SMPI).

Some key findings reveal:

The term ‘Nintendo DS games’ was searched for 1.5 million times, which accounted for 12% of all searches for gaming consoles & games. ‘Xbox 360’ followed with 8% then ‘PS3’ with 7%;

Amazon was the most visible website for entertainment-related products overall, accounting for 73% share of visibility, which was a 3% increase since January. Amazon was also the most visible site for gaming & consoles. Furthermore it replaced Play.com to become the most visible site for DVDs, searches of which accounted for a 15% share of entertainment-related products in April;

Amazon was the most visible advertiser in paid search for entertainment products overall; however, its 69% share of visibility in April was a 4% drop on January’s level. In addition, with a 62% share of voice, Game just managed to pip Amazon to the post to become the most visible advertiser for gaming consoles & games in April;

HMV was the star riser in terms of visibility for both natural and paid search (integrated search). In paid search, its visibility increased by 36% and in natural search it increased its share of voice by 11%;

Greenlight’s Social Media Popularity Index (SMPI) reveals PlayStation was the most followed entertainment retail brand, with a combined following of over 1.4 million on Facebook and Twitter. It was also the most interactive brand, producing a total of 634 ‘posts’ and ‘tweets’ in April;

Although Amazon did not have an official UK Twitter page, it had an account dedicated to gaming consoles specifically, with a total of 250 ‘followers’. Game had an affiliated Twitter account, Game_Offers, which promoted special offers and latest product releases to a following of 1,151 consumers overall;

Argos missed out on potential interaction with social media consumers. It had 4,241 Facebook ‘fans’ however it did not create a single ‘post’ in April;

Very had the most active Facebook page, which not only generated press releases but also acted as a customer service contact by directly answering consumer queries and complaints.