New Zealand Claims Social Media Crown at Rugby World Cup

Following its stunning one-point defeat of France in the Rugby World Cup final, New Zealand also claims the crown of Social Media Champions, revealed global PR and digital communications agency, LEWIS PR today.  With a Facebook following in excess of 1.2 million, almost three times that of its nearest competitor, the All Blacks also scored strongly due to their Twitter following of close to 66,000.

Placing second by only a small margin over England, is Australia, who performed consistently across a number of social media metrics. England performed solidly on Facebook with a fan base just shy of 300,000, supported by a Twitter following of just over 30,000.

“It’s good to see the All Blacks capitalizing on their home turf advantage and kicking some social media goals,” commented Scott Pettet, Vice President APAC at LEWIS PR.  “The race for the number two spot was hard fought, with Australia, England and Ireland all vying. In the end, the only thing splitting Australia and England was the availability of mobile applications, with Australia getting the nod due to support for multiple platforms and England supporting iPhone only.

“Social media is having a huge impact on the way brands engage with their customers and it’s great to see it having such a big impact on global sporting events such as the Rugby World Cup.  No doubt we will see social media used to great effect at next year’s Olympic Games in London.”

The overall social media rankings measured how active each of the teams are in social media, in addition to the level of engagement with fans.  Scores were generated by looking at a number of metrics such as Facebook fans, Facebook discussions, Twitter followers, follow backs and tweet volume.  The top eight teams only were considered, with the rankings as follows:

1.    New Zealand

2.    Australia

3.    England

4.    Ireland

5.    South Africa

6.    Wales

7.    Argentina

8.    France

About LEWIS PR

LEWIS PR is a global communications agency. In addition to traditional media and analyst relations, LEWIS specialises in social media, digital marketing and creative services. It works with organisations to implement integrated communications programs on an international scale. LEWIS works with leading and emerging brands across multiple sectors, including automotive, consumer, government, healthcare, insurance, legal, non-profit, technology and telecom. LEWIS has more than 25 wholly-owned offices across the US, EMEA and Asia Pacific, with regional headquarters in London, San Francisco and Singapore.

Further information: Scott Pettet - VP APAC, LEWIS PR

scottp@lewispr.com / 0414 804 674