Case Study: AOL achieves deeper consumer insights on American-made product sentiment with Brandwatch Analytics

Consumer insights on the propensity for American-made products

AOL, now focused on mobile, data and video experiences, was asked by its sales team to uncover consumer sentiment and advertising opportunities around Ford after the automaker announced moving small‑car production to Mexico. The challenge was to determine how social conversation—amplified by political criticism—was shaping brand perception and whether that chatter could be linked to real sales impacts or creative opportunities.

AOL paired Brandwatch social listening (including historical data) with an online survey (n=1,009) to segment topics, track sentiment and compare online negativity with Ford’s monthly sales. They found production- and Trump-related conversation drove substantial negative sentiment (production ≈7% of mentions), spikes in negativity preceded lower October 2016 sales, and while nearly 60% say U.S.-made is important only ~10% would pay more—showing perception matters more than origin. The work delivered actionable recommendations for Ford to leverage its patriotic image, improve perceived quality, and inform advertising and content strategy.

AOL

Tim Armstrong

Cheif Executive Officer