20 Highest-Valued Brands Announced

General Sentiment's Media Value Report Ranks Reputation and Exposure

WESTBURY, N.Y., Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- General Sentiment has released its Fourth Quarter Media Value Report, a breakdown of the top performing brands across news and social media for October through December 2009.  Generated using General Sentiment's core media measurement and sentiment analysis infrastructure, the report ascribes an advertising dollar value to a brand's media exposure.

The technology sector has dominated once again with significant social media value generated over coverage of new product releases and innovations.  One surprise was Ford rising to the seventh position, as the company benefited in the media from strong sales reports while competitors suffered from lingering bankruptcy discussion.

The top two brands in the survey, Microsoft and Google, together generated about $1.3 billion in purchase-equivalent advertising value from news providers and social media.  Other notable brands in the top 20 included Citigroup, McDonald's, Disney, and American Express. Including Ford, those five companies were mentioned frequently and favorably enough to earn the equivalent of more than $1.2 billion in paid advertising.

"Online reputation and brand perception is becoming an increasingly important measure for marketing and communications decision-makers," said Gregory Artzt, CEO of General Sentiment.  "The consumer voice carries with it power that companies could never produce themselves."  Artzt added, "In this new age, media value measurement is one of the most valuable means of determining the effectiveness of marketing initiatives."

The Fourth Quarter Media Value Report was created using General Sentiment's proprietary software, which "listens" to more than 30 million online sources.  To see the report in its entirety, visit www.generalsentiment.com

About General Sentiment

General Sentiment is a technology company that produces comprehensive research products to help marketing, sales and communications executives evaluate their brand performance in the media, and assess return on investment.  The underlying technology platform is built on 'natural language processing' and sentiment analysis software developed over the course of six years of research at Stony Brook University.

On a quarterly basis, General Sentiment offers its industry-wide reports, which break down the brand winners (and losers) for that quarter.  The company also produces custom reports that allow corporate executives to comprehensively understand their brand perception online and measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts.  

For more information about General Sentiment, go to http://www.generalsentiment.com/

SOURCE General Sentiment