After close to six months of data collection and research, we can finally announce that food and drinks brand Innocent has ranked number one in the Social Brands 100.

Brandwatch have worked with Headstream for the second year to produce the definitive social ranking for brands . The ranking is produced through a combination of detailed tracking and detailed analysis of social media customer and brand interaction to a post level, combined with detailed desk research and a third layer of an expert judging panel.

The ranking measures social performance of brands through a series of markers that demonstrate that a brand is creating high level customer relationships, engaging in active listening and displaying appropriate social behaviour. Innocent is one of over 300 brands nominated following a crowdsourced nomination process on Twitter that took place in January 2012.

The top ten brands are:

Social Brands 100 Top Ten

1. Innocent
2. Starbucks
3. giffgaff
4. Cancer Research UK
5. British Red Cross
6. ARKive
7. Cadbury
8. ASOS
9. The Ellen DeGeneres Show
10. Met Office

The full report is SB100_2012_the_report. Within the report, brands are also ranked via sector.

Other notable findings:

• With a 4% drop on use of foursquare since 2011, the use of geo-location platforms has decreased.
• Charities and not-for-profit organisations are starting to make the most of social media, representing over 25% of the top twenty brands this year.
• In the 10 months since it launched, 49% of brands have joined Google+ with the same number of brands now present on Pinterest.
• YouTube appears to be a missed opportunity for many sectors, with the exception of  technology brands. Sharing product and service stories on this platform could result in greater engagement.