Brands and Consumer Backlash

Brands and Consumer Backlash: "We have been through the brand issues here on a number of occasions. While companies have brands, brand values are owned by the consumer and too much pressure, especially when brands are poorly targeted can backfire."

WOMMA on the Prowl

WOMMA on the Prowl: "It's hard enough to begin to prove MROI in general. Now, throw in WOM (yay, another acronym), and I'm starting to get slap happy. The WOMMA website has some presentations from previous events, which have their share of cool stuff. What they don't have (and for that matter, no one has) is a working process to establish, track, and prove ROI of WOM. "

Micro Persuasion: Putting Evangelism to Work

Micro Persuasion: Putting Evangelism to Work: "USNews.com has probably the best article I've seen to date on how to put a customer evangelism practice to work inside Corporate America. The article quotes Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba - the architects - and they explain so eloquently why this is the future of marketing. "

The Effect of Word of Mouth on Sales: Online Book Reviews

The Effect of Word of Mouth on Sales: Online Book Reviews: "The Effect of Word of Mouth on Sales: Online Book Reviews from Yale School of Management, examines the effect of consumer reviews on relative sales of books at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. They find that 1) reviews are overwhelmingly positive at both sites, but there are more reviews and longer reviews at Amazon.com, 2) an improvement in a book's reviews leads to an increase in relative sales at that site, and 3) the impact of 1-star reviews is greater than the impact of 5-star reviews. "

'Tis the Season of Brand Emotion. Are You Listening?

'Tis the Season of Brand Emotion. Are You Listening?: "How well does your brand truly understand consumer emotion? Equally important, how well do you understand the relationship between emotion and consumer-generated media (CGM)? It's a timely question, as the holiday season is in full bloom. 'Tis the season for consumer emotion, from exuberance and cheerfulness to frustration and cynicism. After all, we're usually juggling more balls than we can handle, racing to meet business and personal yearend goals while stressing over the challenges of reconnecting with family. We are less tolerant, have shorter fuses, and have impossibly high expectations around 'service.'"

PR Call To Action

PR Call To Action: "For all of the hype about blogs and citizens' media, the PR community still has a long way to go before we can say that we've learned the bare minimum to stay afloat in these new waters. "

Gotta Have Analytics

Gotta Have Analytics: "I was reading a post by Sam Whitmore about the top Enterprise trends for 2006 that included Microsoft Office 12 and Analytics. With the launch of Microsoft Office12, now just about everyone can have analytics. Analytics have long been the domain of Business Intelligence vendors providing advanced applications geared towards domain experts and business analysts."

IKEA Brand Evangelists Take to the Blogosphere

IKEA Brand Evangelists Take to the Blogosphere: "AdPulp has a pointer to a new blog tracking IKEA. The blog is penned out of Europe by Armand B. Frasco. Armand, next time get a good URL like ikeafanblog.com. Google is all about the URL, baby. Mike Kaltschnee is your Yoda." Courtesy of Steve Rubel.

Measuring Brand Perception

iMedia Connection: Measuring Brand Perception: "Biz360's Deborah Eastman tells us why analyzing blogs and news can provide insight on messaging effectiveness, brand perception, product quality and emerging trends. "

A Million Little Pieces throws a spin on the latest internet advertising trend

A Million Little Pieces throws a spin on the latest internet advertising trend

A Million Little Pieces utilises it?s staff?s experience in both media planning and media analysis (gained at both the BBC and a large Media Auditing Consultancy) to harness this new advertising phenomenon to achieve maximum results. Carefully planned promotional campaigns such as viral emails and ebay based marketing promotions are regularly executed to target a specific audience of affluent young adults - a notoriously hard audience to reach with conventional Media (TV, Press and Radio.)

Who's afraid of the big, bad blogs?

Not much of anyone who reads Cool News, apparently. As we suspected, the "fear and loathing" by marketers of blogs, as spun by some of the mainstream news media, is just maybe a little bit off center.Topline is, a solid majority of marketers see blogs as opportunities, not threats: 57.4 percent said blogs are "a good way to understand how consumers interact with their brands." Just 5.4 percent view blogs as "a potential danger to their brand-building efforts." The remaining one-third say there is "still not enough known to decide."
More here.

TechCrunch - The Riya-Google Rumor

TechCrunch - The Riya-Google Rumor: "Rumors are flying this morning that Riya (a killer photo facial recognition startup) has been or is being acquired by Google in the $40 million range. See Om Malik, Niall Kennedy and Paul Kedrosky."

How much can you trust buzz? - The Boston Globe

How much can you trust buzz? - The Boston Globe: "Critics can be so cruel. So Dave Balter, founder of the Boston-based marketing firm BzzAgent, thought it would be nice to have some nonpoisoned pens writing on his behalf when his book was published earlier this month."

Yahoo! embraces word-of-mouth in shopping redesign

Yahoo! embraces word-of-mouth in shopping redesign: "Yahoo! Shopping is expected today to unveil a redesign that incorporates word-of-mouth concepts and lets marketers participate in the conversation. "

Web site to blend journalism with blogs

Web site to blend journalism with blogs: "NEW YORK -- A media Web site scheduled to debut Wednesday will seek to blend traditional journalism with the freeform commentary developed through the emerging Web format known as blogs."

Volkswagen Sucks in Rochester & Naked Pictures of Kerri Martin

Volkswagen Sucks in Rochester & Naked Pictures of Kerri Martin: "Also this week, I got a piece of fan mail from Michael Johnson of Rochester, NY. Micheal maintains a website that hold the auspicious honor of being the first hit when Googling the phrase 'volkswagen sucks'. (I'm #4!) Micheal's website, Vincent Sucks, is an excellent example of a well constructed consumer sponsored negative word-of-mouth campaign"

Yale School of Management Word of Mouth Study Finds Customer Reviews at Amazon, BN.com Influence Book Sales

Yale School of Management Word of Mouth Study Finds Customer Reviews at Amazon, BN.com Influence Book Sales: "Many online retailers encourage customers to post product reviews believing that they will influence the purchases of other customers. A new study from the Center for Customer Insights at the Yale School of Management that examines the effect of consumer reviews on book sales at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com finds that this community content does have an impact on what consumers buy."

iMedia Connection: Word of Mouth Influences Business Buyers, Too

iMedia Connection: Word of Mouth Influences Business Buyers, Too: "eMarketer looks at the impact of word of mouth on business buyers making decisions about products and services. "

IBM MOVING IN ON INTELLISEEK, UMBRIA, CYMFONY

IBM MOVING IN ON INTELLISEEK, UMBRIA, CYMFONY: "Interesting move by IBM. They are definitely one of the larger players in IT that is riding the wave from the blogosphere. Their 'Public Image Monitoring Solution' is a solution that competes with Intelliseek, Umbria, Cymfony, and few others that play within this space. This definitely puts some heat on the other players since IBM can leverage its established customer base and huge salesforce that sells its various software and hardware solutions."

Read Between the Mines: Even More Text Mining Options with Factiva

Read Between the Mines: Even More Text Mining Options with Factiva: "Factiva announced another partnership with IBM this week and another way our clients can monitor their media exposure and reputation. This shows me that we weren't kidding when we said our relationship with Big Blue would continue even though both sides decided to part ways around the WebFountain platform a while back."

Read Between the Mines: Media Monitor Plus Relaunches

Read Between the Mines: Media Monitor Plus Relaunches: "Factiva recently re-released one of its media monitoring products -- Factiva Insight: Media Monitor Plus. The release took the product off the 2B legacy system (which we've been running after Factiva's purchase of 2B Media Intelligence this year) and put it on the Factiva Insight Text Mining Platform. "

How much can you trust buzz? - The Boston Globe

How much can you trust buzz? - The Boston Globe: "Critics can be so cruel. So Dave Balter, founder of the Boston-based marketing firm BzzAgent, thought it would be nice to have some nonpoisoned pens writing on his behalf when his book was published earlier this month. ''Grapevine: The New Art of Word-of-Mouth Marketing' is Balter's first book, and he wanted to give it every possible advantage. "

Micro Persuasion: Google Cracks Down on Spam Blogs?

Micro Persuasion: Google Cracks Down on Spam Blogs?: "Google Blogoscope is hearing that Google seemingly got rid of Blogspot spam blogs. Philipp Lenssen is also speculating that this could mean Google's blog search will improve as well."

IBM targets brand conscious with search

IBM targets brand conscious with search: "IBM has become the latest big name IT vendor to try and cash in on the 'Web 2.0' hype, tapping companies' paranoia about the potential impact that a growing wall of online noise can have on their brand.
The Public Image Monitoring Solution from IBM sifts millions of blogs, consumer reviews and news wires from Factiva, compiling the results in graphical charts to summarize the 'tone' of coverage, assess negativity, and identify hot topics of discussion."

Blogging's Impact on Search Position Quantified

Blogging's Impact on Search Position Quantified: "According to Converseon's study of the top 20 search engine listings for the BusinessWeek 100 brands in July 2005, 39% of the top search listings were derived from consumer-generated media such as blogs. Based on this study, Converseon estimated there are 16,000 flame sites web-wide and growing."

Word of Mouth Marketing: the Stats, Surveys and Substance Behind the Buzz - Research and Markets - Market Research Reports

Word of Mouth Marketing: the Stats, Surveys and Substance Behind the Buzz - Research and Markets - Market Research Reports: "Today, according to consulting giant McKinsey, about two-thirds of all economic activity in the US is influenced by shared opinions about a product, brand or service. But word of mouth as a marketing discipline is only just coming into its own, and the data indicate its best years are yet to come."

Movie marketers compete in 'advergames'

Movie marketers compete in 'advergames': "CONSIDERING THE MOUNTING evidence that teenagers are spending more time zoning out on videogames and less time going to the movies, it's no surprise that studios have turned to videogames as a vehicle to advertise their coming attractions"

CGM & Electronics

CGM & Electronics: "David Pogue's New York Times piece this morning centered on 'electronics' hits the hammer on the nail. The piece is entitled '10 Ways to Please Us, the Customers.' What the argument doesn't note, but which elevates the importance of his commentary, is the depth of virality and CGM around such experiences."

How to Act on Consumer-Generated Media

How to Act on Consumer-Generated Media: "How on earth do you act on consumer-generated media (CGM)? Is it inherently actionable? Suppose thousands of motivated consumers are angrily screaming your brand's name (or praising it) across a mix of message boards, forums, and blogs -- most within a few clicks of other consumers or scoop-starved reporters. "

Teen Content Creators and Consumers

Teen Content Creators and Consumers: "American teenagers today are utilizing the interactive capabilities of the internet as they create and share their own media creations. Fully half of all teens and 57% of teens who use the internet could be considered Content Creators. They have created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations. "

More Umbria Tire Kicking

More Umbria Tire Kicking: "Umbria Communications continues to listen. Ever since I pounced on Umbria for being a marketing bully a couple of months ago, folks from Umbria have been telling me that they appreciate my feedback and that they are taking it to heart. Lots of folks say that sort of thing to quiet a detractor, but Umbria is doing something remarkable... they're following through on the promise. A few weeks ago, I talked about Umbria VP Bill Tuohig and Umbria's new website. "

Word-of-Mouth Marketing Picks Up Speed

Word-of-Mouth Marketing Picks Up Speed: "There are dozens of metrics defining online advertising, but no one has locked down the defining numbers for word-of-mouth marketing. A new eMarketer report uncovers the 'hidden statistics' of word of mouth. "

Word-of-Mouth: Measure it or Create it?

Word-of-Mouth: Measure it or Create it?: "To measure or to create? That is the question."

Nearly Half of All Online Marketers Engage in Word of Mouth Marketing Campaigns

Nearly Half of All Online Marketers Engage in Word of Mouth Marketing Campaigns: "New eMarketer Report Finds Acceptance Growing as Measurements Increase Word of mouth marketing, more than just the marketing buzzword du jour, is quickly becoming an indispensable tool, helping marketers turn good customers into their best advertisers. "

Xbox 360: New Viral Marketing Page?

Xbox 360: New Viral Marketing Page?: "We have just recieved an email about the possiblity of a new viral marketing page for the Xbox 360. http://www.101101000.com is up and running with a countdown time and several other binary strings on the left and right. "

Rubel Rocking at Blogging Enterprise

Rubel Rocking at Blogging Enterprise: "Steve Rubel is delivering the keynote here at The Blogging Enterprise in Austin. He's rocking. He spotlights the impact of blogging on PR and the traditional media. He held a moment of silence im memory of the old media, then swung into the key aspects of what he calls the emerging ecosystem."

Moreover upping Blog offering

I have it on good authority that Moreover Technologies is going to be upping its blog offering very soon. Up to now it has only really included highly active blogs in its blog feed and couldn't compete with the likes of Technorati, BlogPulse, Cyberalert and Google's Blog Search. However, if my sources are reliable, Moreover will also be including much more meta-data than is currently offered by its competitors in this field.

Invited to watch a comedy movie? New viral marketing stunt has similar impact to real virus, Sophos warns

Invited to watch a comedy movie? New viral marketing stunt has similar impact to real virus, Sophos warns: "Sophos technical support has received a number of reports from customers concerned about an email which invites users to visit a website to view comedy video clips, such as one of Bill Gates being hit with a custard pie by Belgian anarchists. "

Understanding and Managing Negative Word of Mouth

Understanding and Managing Negative Word of Mouth: "Determined detractors are critics, competitors and even peers who are, for one reason or another, bent on causing a company harm or hindering its success through a focused, negative voice. Three basic types of determined detractors exist."

Monitoring and evaluating Blogs.

Monitoring and evaluating Blogs.: "There are the usual suspects and PR blog monitoring specialists like CyberAlert and a specialist capability is not hard to build (Springboard software in Bangalore can build you one for about $1500 in about a week). So acquiring the basic data is not hard.
The real problem comes when trying to make sense out of the mountain of irrelevant to find the nugget of relevance. "

When does Viral Marketing become SPAM ?

When does Viral Marketing become SPAM ?: "You get to your computer and login to your e-mail account and amidst the fun party invites, the coupons from the cinema and the e-mail from your mother asking for your Christmas list you find 17 new mails from Uncle Zeno. Everyone has an Uncle Zeno."

Tomorrows PR is closer than you think

Tomorrows PR is closer than you think: "As a simple research project, and using part of speech tagging (POS) I am looking at nouns as expressions of tokens and adjectives, adverbs etc. as expressions of values to see how closely we can identify drivers for relationships in the words both the man-in-the-street and journalists."

Volkswagen's 120 Videos Not About Passat - More Clueless Than Ever

Volkswagen's 120 Videos Not About Passat - More Clueless Than Ever: "Given the choice, marketing folks gravitate toward entertainment. Why? Because it is more fun to create and it's easier to get the consumer's attention. As long as clueless clients like Volkswagen and Burger King are prepared to pay ad agencies like CP+B for asinine advertisement like the Subservient Chicken, this crap will continue to exist. But to what avail? " asks Matt Galloway.

Why Do Influential People Blog?

Why Do Influential People Blog?: "Influential People are blogging more because it is an easy way to publish their opinions, be more influential and connect better with their audience."

ConsumerEmpowerment.com - Case List

ConsumerEmpowerment.com - Case List: "Here are some interesting stories about companies that have carried out empowerment campaigns for consumers, clients or customers:"

Courtesy of ConsumerEmpowerment.com.

Top Ten Viral Videos

Top Ten Viral Videos: "Here are some of the top viral videos around the Web today. A viral video is a video that has been passed around many times and has gained popularity largely by word of mouth, email, instant messaging, or online bulletin boards, rather than a publicity campaign."

How to Act on Consumer-Generated Media

How to Act on Consumer-Generated Media: "How on earth do you act on consumer-generated media (CGM)? Is it inherently actionable?"

Measuring Word-of-Mouth

Measuring Word-of-Mouth: "Indeed, the rise of word-of-mouth and buzz marketing couldn't come at a better time - or a worse one. On one hand, it offers marketers the chance to bypass increasingly spotty communication channels and avoid the middleman known as paid media in favor of one of the oldest and most effective forms of communication. On the other hand, it is enormously difficult to quantify return on investment from this most ephemeral of media. A whole cottage industry has sprung up around the demand for word-of-mouth measurement. But so far, not even the companies that are best at monitoring word-of-mouth feel they've cracked the code"

PR and Blogs

PR and Blogs: "Among those companies that actively monitoring inter-consumer communication (ICC) - more than one-half are using web searches such as Google"

What Drives Purchase Decisions?

What Drives Purchase Decisions?: "BIGresearch finds purchase decisions of online searchers are influenced by a broad number of offline sources. "

Personal bankruptcies hit record

Personal bankruptcies hit record: "Mark Sands, director of personal insolvency at KPMG, said the new rules had created a system where bankruptcy was viewed as a 'pragmatic option' rather than a 'life-shaming event'. He added: 'A culture encouraging bankruptcy is spreading in pubs by word of mouth. It is even possible to petition for bankruptcy online.' "

BURN Energy Drink Blitzes the US on Sampling Tour

BURN Energy Drink Blitzes the US on Sampling Tour: "The goal of a BURN BLITZ is to increase trial and to spark positive word of mouth, Benedict said. He has already seen encouraging results from this aggressive marketing strategy."

Million dollar way to beat student debt

Million dollar way to beat student debt: "Word of mouth has led to millions of hits on the site and press coverage in 26 countries including the USA, Germany, Russia, Italy and Ukraine...Spikey-haired Alex said: 'I'm amazed at the power of word of mouth. It's proof to me that a good idea will succeed. "

Informative Determines Word-of-Mouth (WOM) Has Significant Impact on Consumer Diet and Nutrition Purchases

Informative Determines Word-of-Mouth (WOM) Has Significant Impact on Consumer Diet and Nutrition Purchases: "Leading Brand Advocacy Firm Releases Exclusive Findings That Reveal Consumers' Purchase Intent Doubles When Personal Recommendations Are Received"

Market Research Firm Survey Reveals Billions in Spending Depends on Word of Mouth

Market Research Firm Survey Reveals Billions in Spending Depends on Word of Mouth: "The Boston-based market research firm of Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB), today announced the results of its latest study on the power of advocacy in the travel and hospitality industry."

U.S. Gay and Lesbian Automotive Consumers Favor Import and Luxury Brands, Hybrid Demand Strong

U.S. Gay and Lesbian Automotive Consumers Favor Import and Luxury Brands, Hybrid Demand Strong : "Automakers' quest to move away from 'traditional' media sources--having more of an online presence and 'viral marketing' focus -- hits squarely at the GLBT consumer. This group relies heavily on both the Internet (62%) and 'word-of-mouth' (45%) advice when deciding which vehicle to purchase."

Teaser And Stealth Marketing Tactics Explored

Teaser And Stealth Marketing Tactics Explored: "Publicis and Renault has done nothing wrong here. Not that anyone is saying they did. Though in the face of transparency insanity, the discussion was worth having."