Michelin Dominates the Conversation Among Automotive Influencers

In the first ever Automotive Influencer Report on Tires, Michelin is the clear leader when measuring the share of conversation each brand has.

Key Findings

Michelin dominates the discussion and is broadening the gap

Seasonality plays an important factor

Tire brands have a dramatically different share of conversation metrics depending on which automaker the discussion relates to

Across the world’s largest online automotive audience, every month tens of millions of visitors seek the advice of community influencers, talking about everything from vehicle reliability, to dealership experience, to parts and service. They also talk about tires, and the first annual Automotive Influencer Report on Tires provides insight on the tire brands that are dominating the conversation on the VerticalScope platform.

In 2017 the brand that had the overwhelming share the tire conversation was Michelin with a convincing 20.15 percent of the discussion. In second was Nitto Tires with roughly half that at 11.97 percent of the conversation. The third most discussed brand at 10.76 was BFGoodrich, edging out Goodyear at 9.2 percent. Rounding out the top five is Pirelli at 8.06 percent of the conversation.

“An industry leader, from passenger tires to motorsports, it’s no surprise to see Michelin dominating the conversation on our platform,” said VerticalScope VP of Content, Colum Wood.

“With well-over 100 million monthly visitors, the industry insights we’re able to dive into are practically limitless. As fascinating as the Automotive Influencer Report on Tires is, it’s really quite superficial when it comes to our data mining capabilities. It’s also the first in a series of reports VerticalScope will be providing to help evolving industries see and react to trends we’re monitoring in real time.”

MICHELIN’S DOMINATION IS GROWING

Comparing the data to the year previous, Michelin has actually been growing its share of the conversation, with 18.44 percent of the tire-related discussion in 2016. Nitto improved its spot in 2017, ranking in 3rd in 2016 with 11.2 percent, while BFG’s 12.19 percent share of the discussion in 2016 means it has slipped a position since then. Fourth was Goodyear at 9.74 percent and rounding out the top five in 2016 was Pirelli at 7.54 percent.

SEASONAL CHANGES

Dividing the conversation seasonally, the bulk of the discussion surrounds winter or snow tires, which make up 52.76 percent of the posts, compared to summer or performance tires at 30.57 percent and all-season tires at 16.67 percent.

Charting the data week-by-week it’s interesting to see that while the majority of brands remain steady throughout the year, conversations around Michelin are seasonal. Well-known for manufacturing ultra high performance summer tires, discussions around the brand actually dip in the summer months compared to its dominance in the winter months.

“In terms of actionable insights, this data is telling me two things,” said David Domitrovic, who oversees insights and analytics for VerticalScope’s Customer Success Team. “First, for the other brands on this list, it’s laying the groundwork for an opportunistic approach, helping them refine their conquesting strategy. Second, it indicates an opportunity for the brand to interact with customers at a key point in their tire shopping journey.”

In total, Michelin’s share of the winter tire related conversation is by far the most of any brand at almost 30 percent, compared to the next closest, Bridgestone, at 12.77 percent

WHAT TIRES RANK BEST FOR WHICH AUTOMAKERS?

Comparing tire conversations related to automotive manufacturers, such as two full-line automakers like Ford and Toyota, it’s interesting to see other differences.

The top three most popular tire brands discussed in Ford communities are Uniroyal, Nitto and Firestone, while on Toyota audiences the list is Yokohama, Federal Tire and Toyo. Surprisingly, despite Michelin’s dominance overall, it’s not one of the top three tire brands for either of these two automakers.

Drilling down on a site-by-site basis, we can see that on a community like VWVortex.com, Michelin makes up a full 29.12 percent of the discussion. While that may seem like dominance, it’s nothing to the share of conversation BFGoodrich has on WranglerForum.com with over 36 percent of all tire conversations related to that brand.

See below for a full list of tire brands and how they placed.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact VerticalScope’s marketing department at 416 341 8950 x 244 or tinverso@verticalscope.com.

About the report

The first annual Automotive Influencer Report on Tires tracks the top 20 automotive tire brands across VerticalScope’s automotive properties. Scanning millions of conversations, using natural language processing, the report summarizes findings and adds context around what brands are having the biggest impact with automotive experts . The report is the first in a series that will focus on the automotive industry.

About VerticalScope

VerticalScope is a privately held corporation headquartered in Toronto, Canada, specializing in the acquisition and development of websites and online communities for the Automotive, Powersports, Outdoor, Home, Health & Fitness and Technology vertical markets. The social networks and websites are vertically integrated roll-ups in high-consumer spending verticals.

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