CLEGG HAS THE X-FACTOR AS POLITICAL LEADERS MORE TALKED ABOUT THAN CHERYL COLE

Brits were four times more likely to have a positive conversation about Nick Clegg than Cheryl Cole in the last week, according to new research.

More than a third (39 per cent) of the British population had a positive conversation about the Lib Dem leader, while 16 per cent had a similar conversation about David Cameron and 13 per cent about Gordon Brown.

Less than one in ten Brits has a conversation about Cheryl Cole in the same time period.

The figures are taken from TalkingPoint, a new tool developed by Band & Brown Communications to track conversations about brands, products and people. Weekly polling of more than 2,000 people is conducted by ICM.

In recent weeks, TalkingPoint has shown that Brown and Clegg's positive conversation ratings have been climbing since the start of the election campaign, while Cameron's have hardly shifted.

Fiona Longhurst, Planning Director at Band & Brown, commented:
"It’s become vital in our business to understand how conversations are started and sustained. This is why we have developed TalkingPoint, which will become a vital tracking tool for our clients.

"The results just underline the impact of Clegg's performance on ITV and it will be interesting to see if our pub, school gate and dinner talk continue these trends as the election approaches."

Martin Boon of ICM said:
“As brand experts, Band & Brown know better than most the value of word-of-mouth in engaging consumers with products. It’s a happy knack that the Clegg team appear to have picked up since the leaders debate.”