Women at NBCU, an initiative that combines media assets reaching women across multiple platforms, revealed its 2011 Brand Power Index (BPI). According to this, Barbie, Kotex and Harley Davidson are among the brands that made the biggest impact on women.

The research was being conducted during 12 months to measure the brands that attract female attention the most, and included the analysis of 500 brands.
Brands were divided into five categories or ‘buzzes’. The result showed:

Best Social Media Buzz. Frito Lay set the Guiness World Record on Facebook this spring with 1.5 million new ‘likes’ in 24 hours, climbing 159 points up the index. To achieve this, the brand leveraged social media to promote its line of all natural snacks. Frito Lay also partnered with Zynga to create a Frito Lay farm on FarmVille, where players could harvest and package their own wholesome virtual goods. In addition, Frito Lay replicated its famous ‘Flavor Kitchen’ in New York’s Time Square, a live cooking demonstration with simple solutions for busy moms, which was simultaneously broadcasted on Frito Lay’s Facebook page.

Best Breakthrough Buzz. Harley Davidson scored with women landing it a spot on the index for the first time at number 194. The traditionally male-associated brand arranged a series of initiatives to celebrate the growing number of women fans.’ The company also gave women the chance to communicate with fellow female riders on a new website.

Best Steady Buzz. CVS Pharmacy picked at number 27 in the index, obviously due to its focus on lifestyle and beauty. Among these initiatives, CVS partnered with the World Wildlife Fund to launch the ‘Life Grows On’ photo contest aimed at raising awareness around conservation. The company’s new ‘Beauty Board,’ a panel of lifestyle experts who provide advice on all things beauty and style, on its Facebook page also contributed to its popularity.

Best Controversial Buzz. Kotex, scored 130 in the index, launched ‘U by Kotex Tween,’ a new line of feminine care products aimed at 8-to-12 year olds, meant to initiate the period conversation between moms and their daughters. It was an expansion of its ‘U by Kotex’ campaign, targeting older audiences, which aimed to challenge the shame around feminine care.

Best Viral Buzz. Mattel Inc. polled the audience across Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter and Youtube to determine if America’s most famous couple—Barbie and Ken—should reunite. The company also launched ‘Genuine Ken,’ a reality web series, to find the next ‘Great American boyfriend.’ The love story continued offline, with a billboard campaign in which Ken claims he loves Barbie. These campaigns coincided with Barbie’s rise on the BPI to 74, and despite of the Greenpeace accused Barbie of being a serial killer, it resulted in a happy ending: Barbie’s Facebook status now says ‘in a relationship.’

Brand Republic has recently published a Kids Brand Index, a detailed research on children’s favorite brands.

By the way, Forbes has unveiled details of its annual ranking of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women with Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo’s CEO on the fourth place.