How Chewbacca Made Kohls the Most Loved Brand on Facebook in May

We dive into the brands getting the most Love reactions on Facebook, and the surprising ways they’re seeing success. 

We’ve looked at how reactions are being driven for content by sports teams, political communicators, publishers, and brands.
This time, we decided to dive deeper.
We’re zeroing in on the Love reaction — we put 60 brands through the powerful microscope of NewsWhip Analytics to see which brands invoke the most love in their followers and why. Let’s look at who’s getting the most hearts aglow on Facebook. 
The Most Loved Brands on Facebook in May 2016

All of the brands that made our top 10 are well-known, each of them with a distinctive brand voice, personality, and core themes.
The average Love reaction percentage of total combined likes and reactions was 3.74%, when we filtered out the outlier of Kohl’s. The top brands above all had a markedly higher percentage of Love reactions than the average.

The Viral Sensation of Kohl’s

Kohl’s was the most loved brand in May that we analyzed. Why? Well, apparently the Force is strong with Kohl’s. They saw a surge of engagement following the most successful Facebook Live video to date, a mom trying on a Chewbacca mask she bought at Kohl’s.
The two posts that Kohl’s made following the video were the most loved in May. Their top post also saw the most comments, likes, and Wow and Ha-Ha reactions in our analysis.
[fb_pe url=”https://www.facebook.com/kohls/videos/10154229351086248/” bottom=”30″]
This video showed Kohl’s surprising Candace, the mother from the video, and her family with Star Wars merchandise and gift cards. The video saw just under 100,000 Love reactions, and has been viewed over 33 million times.
Viral moments present big opportunities for brands who act quickly, and Kohl’s took that jump. Predict what Facebook trends will get your page loved, by checking out Facebook Reactions in Spike

What Industries Were the Most Loved?

When we initially looked at brands and reactions we saw many of the most-loved posts coming from food brands announcing products, though well-loved brands like Samsung Mobile and Ferrari also saw a lot of Love reactions.  
In our top 20 most-loved brands, food and luxury brands featured predominantly, followed by technology brands.
[fb_pe url=”https://www.facebook.com/benandjerrysUS/videos/10153762736226461/” bottom=”30″]
This Live video from Ben and Jerry’s may have only seen 486 total likes and reactions in May, but 16.67% of those were Love reactions. The quirky ice cream brand has fervent followers that appreciate the brand’s grassroots and philanthropic culture.
These brands are all generally well-known and established, but what makes them successful with getting Love on Facebook is that they’re able to keep their brand identity in a genuine way on Facebook and keep building passion in their fans.

Sentiment Delivers a Southwest Surprise

Southwest Airlines was the big surprise of our top ten list. The majority of the other brands there, like Urban Decay, Disney, Victoria’s Secret, all have zealous fans that are excited by new products and announcements.
But brands that know how to tug at their followers’ heartstrings also can see more Love reactions. Southwest Airlines, which was the second most-loved brand in our May analysis, did this with their content.
[fb_pe url=”https://www.facebook.com/SouthwestAir/videos/10154345252288949/” bottom=”30″]
This video of a World War II veteran getting to sit in a Southwest Airlines cockpit before his flight earned over 6,800 Love reactions in May.
Some of their other content featured a flight attendant being surprised with recognition by the CEO and a video of musician Cole Swindell performing a song at the airport that he wrote in honor of his father.

Alternative Uses of the Love Reaction

Another interesting aspect of Facebook Reactions is that they create a fun way for brands to let followers ‘vote’ on posts. Coca-Cola’s French page has seen this with resounding success.
[fb_pe url=”https://www.facebook.com/cocacolafrance/photos/a.1025794750771288.1073741828.998589190158511/1329304047087022/” bottom=”30″]
This photo, which asked followers to pick their favorite beverage, saw over 29,000 Love reactions, 56.45% of total likes and reactions. Another poll photo from Coca-Cola had 27.24% Love reactions.
It may not be for its intended purpose, but these gamified posts are driving Love reactions all the same.

What to Know About the Facebook Heart

So what gets Facebook users clicking Love instead of a like? Love reactions show a deeper level of fan engagement and appreciation, since users have to take an extra action to select a reaction over a like.
Brands with highly-engaged, passionate followers seem to drive Love reactions on their content. The content that gets Love reactions is often positive, or sentimental and nostalgic.
As more people get comfortable with using Facebook Reactions, we can watch what insights these will reveal for social media marketers and brands. Only time (and the data!) will tell.

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