3 brands on Facebook...

I checked out all three brands mentioned here (click on the title to read the original ET article), on Facebook that is. I looked for numbers (no. of fans, 'likes', comments); content (stickiness that makes fans engage regularly), engagement (what were the fans saying), innovation (what was the brand doing differently), scalability of idea (could it move into other platforms and create a bigger bang) and of course social strategy. Have rated them A-E, A being very good and E being hopeless.

Ching's Secret: Numbers - A. (Sales have also gone up, as the brand manager claims - that's great.) Content - C. (The recipes are good, but they use 'happy Bday SRK!' & 'What's yr fav movie?' types as fillers - all the time). Engagement - D. (Formula 'I luv Chinese fud'.) Innovation - E. (Even the recipes are 100% cut-paste jobs from other recipe websites - I checked.) Scalability - B. (The recipes are a good idea, could go mobile to start with.) Strategy - C. (I like the way the product is upfronted, but it doesn't go beyond that.)

JustDial: Numbers - A. Content - D. (But content is not a priority here - it's Search & Trends). Engagement - D. ('Top 5 Movies of last week!' Brainless. Tons of spam.) Innovation - B. (The Wall is D, but the Search/Trends is A+.) Scalability - B. (The Search could go mobile easily.) Strategy - A. (Loved the way they've integrated Search and Trends. Smart.)

Barista Lavazza: Numbers - B. Content - C. (They're not going beyond product shots, but I liked the occasional contest, UNICEF promo, etc). Engagement - C. (Low on numbers, but the fans really like the brand, and think before they write.) Innovation - C. (Product shots are boring beyond a point. They could have integrated the Google maps thing here.) Scalability - C. (Not sure what they'll do a year later. Same same I guess) Strategy - C. (It's a menu basically, with some interventions.)

To sum up: In terms of smart usage of the medium, i'd rate JustDial 1, Barista 2, Ching's Secret 3.