This paper outlines a strategy to identify brand alliances by examining co-followership on Twitter. By examining the brands who share the same followers, it is possible to model the closeness of brands over time and across product categories.

1. From: Malhotra and Bhattacharyya (2022)
Leveraging Co-Followership Patterns on
Social Media to Identify Brand Alliance
Opportunities

2. From: Malhotra and Bhattacharyya (2022)
Brand Alliances
“By mashing up two bona fide brands, especially in diverse industries, the impact
can be exponential” - Forbes (2020)
Problem: Need for
automatic scalable
methods for identifying
brand alliances across a
broad ecosystem of brands
Starbucks & Spotify Apple & Nike

3. From: Malhotra and Bhattacharyya (2022)
Brand Networks for
Identifying Potential
Alliances
Using publicly available co-
followership data on Twitter to
create network of brands.
This can capture audience
interests (and potential
collaborations) across industries

4. From: Malhotra and Bhattacharyya (2022)
Americanair
Delta
Spiritairlines
Emirates
United
Starbucks
Louisvuitton
Spacex
Facebook
Disney
Nfl
Microsoft
Expedia
Intel
Disneycruise
Fourseasons
Hilton
Hyatt
Radisson
Ritzcarlton
Westin
Burberry
Chanel
Uber
Amazon
Victoriassecret
Carnivalcruise
Royalcaribbean
Sierranevada
Netflix
Audi
Bmw
Lamborghini
Mercedesbenz
Armani
Fifa
Sony
Nokia
Skype
Tagheuer
Wimbledon
Samueladams
Subway
Mcdonalds
Ikea
Craigslist
Wayfair
Olympics
Pinterest
Tesla
Honda
Apple
Htc
Lenovo
Accenture
Budlight
Budweiser
Cocacola
Pepsi
Kfc
Redbull
Spotify
Chickfila
Tacobell
Oreo
Bestbuy
Guinness
Urbandecay
Lays
Walmart
Tropicana
Cheesecake
Godiva
Lindt
Snickers
Sunchips
Hersheys
Lipton Dasani
Paypal
Homedepot
Tjmaxx
Safeway
Sears
Walgreens
Adidas
Reebok
Colgate
Neutrogena
Blackberry
Ebay
Philips
Xerox
Yahoo
Menards
Hulu
Jeep
Infiniti
Mazda
Bulova
Tagheuer
Tissot
Rolex
Cisco
Armaniwatches
Salesforce
Us Open
Adobe
Logitech
Box
Dropbox
Oculus
Azure
Gap
Bananarepublic
Ralphlauren
Prada
Sephora Thebodyshop
Illustrator
−15
−10
−5
0
5
10
−10 0 10
x
y
Category
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
Airlines
Automotive
Beer
Cruise
Dining
FoodBeverages
Lodging
LuxuryGoods
Media
Miscellaneous
Retail
Sports
Technology
Travel
Visualization of
Brand Co-
followership
Patterns
across
Categories

5. From: Malhotra and Bhattacharyya (2022)
Brand–Brand Asymmetrical Connections
Mercedes Benz
Louis Vuitton
Nike
Chanel
Puma
Converse
Hublot
Adidas
Reebok
Hugo Boss
Nautica
Bulova
Diesel
TAG Heuer
Tissot
Omega
Rolex
Seiko
Armani watches
Tommy Hilfiger
Lacoste
Outbound links from Mercedes
Inbound links to Mercedes
Leverage asymmetry for nuanced co-branding
insights…
• Top 20 brand–brand connections of Mercedes with
brands in the luxury and retail categories.
• The direction and weight of the edges represent the
asymmetry and strength of the brand–brand
connections.
• For instance, the weight of outbound edge from
Mercedes to Tissot represents the percentage of
Mercedes’s audience that is interested in Tissot, while
the weight of inbound edge from Tissot to Mercedes
represents the percentage of Tissot’s audience that is
interested in Mercedes.

6. From: Malhotra and Bhattacharyya (2022)
• Brand networks make it easy to understand brand
follower data for research and business
application purposes.
• Brand Network is a novel digital artifact to deliver
insights into users and brands in a timely manner.
 Data collection and network analysis fully
automated.
 Focus on broad ecosystem of brands in
multiple categories.
• User-brand relationships change over time—
marketing stakeholders can watch how these
relationships change over time
Practical Implications