Parmigiano Reggiano is officially the most loved food brand in Italy

Parmigiano Reggiano is the most loved food brand in Italy.

Analysis by Talkwalker, a New York-based social media management company, shows the top 10 Italian brands in its annual 'Brand Love' rankings.

The list features brands from every possible domain, and in fact the number one spot was taken by Armani.

Parmigiano Reggiano came second overall, followed by Ducati, Gucci, Prada, Bulgari, Pirelli, Lega Serie A (Italian football top flight), Barilla and Fila.

To be honest, I'm not surprised because while other famous brands - Nutella, for example - can also be found in just about every corner of Italy, Parmigiano Reggiano can be used for anything, not just for sweet treats or a specific kind of meal.

However, I am indeed surprised to find out that Ferrari didn't make the top 10, but that's a different conversation for Drivetribe, I guess.

Nicola Bertinelli, President of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, is predictably very happy with the result. "In 2021, consumers have once again recognised and rewarded Parmigiano Reggiano’s uniqueness, as we remain among the most popular brands in the world and are confirmed as second in Italy,” Bertinelli said. “This is also due to our choices and behaviours that aim to improve the supply chain year after year: by protecting the characteristics of our age-old product on one hand, and by incentivising companies to adopt solutions in line with consumer expectations on the other".

The goal was not only to specifically measure how popular they are but also how the brand actually responds to the popularity by actively trying to commit to establishing a real connection with the customer.

In order to conduct the research, Talkwalker analysed 1,228 brands in different countries through social media, news, forums and various other channels. They eventually narrowed it down to 153 brands, and each brand was assigned a score based on specific data and criteria: Engagement rate and positive feelings of consumers on social media, Engagement rate and positive feelings of consumers in news stories, Percentage of mentions related to the concept of “joy”, Percentage of mentions containing keywords related to the concept of love.

Francesco Turco, Marketing Executive at Talkwalker, pointed out that even though "measuring the concept of love through social listening is almost impossible", they're trying to "observe the sentiments that reveal a person’s passion for a brand, such as a positive feeling and words related to love, emotion, and joy, as well as engagement, that is, a brand’s ability to keep the relationship alive and always new".