Do you have burning market research questions? Need insight into an emerging trend? Looking to prove a long-held belief about your audience? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, we have good news for you: You don’t need to schedule a focus group to get answers. You just need social listening tool.
Consumer social media usage is on the rise. People turn to social to make connections, share ideas or simply speak their minds. Social listening helps brands tap into those readily available conversations to extract unbiased feedback and perspectives, allowing you to quickly spot key trends and discover new opportunities to connect with your audience.
We’ve used social listening to answer questions on behalf of brands everywhere, like “What day is leg day?” Now, we’ve turned the mic over to our social followers. You asked, we answered.
1. Which brand had the hottest merch drop of the summer?
Corporate merch drops are having a major moment. From established brands to startups, an unusual amount of companies have launched branded merch lines. While corporate gear is not a new phenomenon, it’s certainly never been met with this much mass demand.
These drops are social-first events, with many companies mimicking the direct-to-consumer drop trend popularized by streetwear brands like Supreme. Typically, drops are meant to build hype around another new product or item, like McDonald’s surprisingly stylish crispy chicken sandwich hoodie.
So who had the buzziest drop of the summer? We were able to find a clear winner after using Sprout Social’s Advanced Listening to analyze 440 Tweets from June 27, 2021, to August 1, 2021. In a summer stocked with streetwear-inspired launches, it was the Panera Bread Swim Soup collection that really got people talking.
Panera is celebrating people who enjoy soup all year long with a collection of swim soups and trunks based on its best-selling broccoli cheddar flavor.
Also there’s a pool float shaped like a bread bowl. https://t.co/Ykg9JZj2X1
— ADWEEK (@Adweek) July 11, 2021
