• by Wayne Friedman , January 27, 2011

Healthier messaging from big fast-food and confection companies is getting women to talk to each other. A six-month analysis from the Women at NBCU Brand Power Index shows that brands such as McDonald's, Nestle, and Frito-Lay are generating bigger online and offline buzz.

McDonald's moved up 10 places on the NBC index to 15th place, stemming from a partnership with social game "FarmVille," which aligned the brand with fresh farm produce. A focus on four new salad options and "natural-cut" fries seasoned with sea salt moved Wendy's higher into 96th place.

Domino's Pizza gained a large number of places -- 140 spots -- to 218th, from its advertising push that touted California farm-grown tomatoes and 100% real cheese.

Commercials from Nestlé, which included products designed to prevent disease and improve health, help it gain 120 places to 153rd position. Frito-Lay made its first appearance on the list -- 361st place -- from two efforts, introducing its Artisan Recipes tortilla chips made with all-natural ingredients, then announcing that 50% of its products will be made with all-natural ingredients.

The Women at NBC Index, which started up last year, says after six months, the brands women continue to talk about include: 1) Walmart 2) Target 3) Verizon 4) eBay 5) Ford 6) Coca-Cola 7) AT&T 8) iPhone 9) iPod 10) Pepsi 11) Honda 12) Amazon.com 13) Sears 14) McDonald's 15) Samsung 16) Toyota 17) Bank of America 18) Netflix 19) Kohl's 20) Sony 21) Sprint 22) Microsoft 23) Tylenol 24) Xbox and 25) Comcast.

The Women at NBCU Brand Power Index is an analysis of 500 brands most talked about by women. It is based on online search data from Compete and social media buzz data from New Media Strategies, as well as person-to-person conversations tracked by Keller Fay Group.