Ford and Toyota were two of the 25 most talked about consumer brands by women in August, according to the first report of new monthly brand index from Women at NBCU. These results place Ford and Toyota near the top of the 500 brands analyzed – and in good company with other popular national brands, including the leader Wal-Mart, Verizon, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dell Computers, Sears, Kohl’s, and Wells Fargo.

“In addition to being responsible for 85% of today’s consumer purchases, women are also the biggest brand ambassadors. Research shows that 96% of women will recommend a product to a friend if she likes it. There is simply no better type of endorsement than peer recommendations,” said Lauren Zalaznick, president of NBC Universal’s Women & Lifestyle Entertainment networks.

This brand index derives its ratings from a compilation of online search data from ComScore, social media buzz data from New Media Strategies, and person-to-person conversations tracked by Keller Faye.

Women at NBCU is NBC Universal’s female-targeted ad sales, marketing, and research initiative. This brand index will help businesses and consumers identify important brands to women each month.

How often do you think you recommend brands to others? How do peer recommendations play into your buying decisions?