WoM Watch

Nigel Hollis » Blog Archive » Why Dump on Dell?

2006-08-24T10:30:00.000Z

Nigel Hollis » Blog Archive » Why Dump on Dell?: "It’s a disturbing story, but not really a new one. Last week, Dell Computers announced a recall of the batteries in a number of their laptop PCs. The lithium-ion batteries have the potential to overheat, causing the computer to explode and catch fire. "

Listening to Online WOM: A Primer

2006-07-27T15:29:00.000Z

Listening to Online WOM: A Primer:
"By Matt Galloway In The Beginning There Was WOM... Since the dawn of time when the first Cro-Magnon grunted "Starbucks" to his cavemates, people have talked about brands, products and services. As we started walking upright, we came to call this chatter "word-of-mouth," or more recently by it acronym WOM. One of the common reactions I get from folks when I start talking about WOM and it's commercially applied derivative Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOMM) is "Don't these marketing guys know that Word-of-Mouth has been around forever?" Yes, I assure you that they do. But like our Cro-Magnon friend, WOM has evolved, and that's why among marketing types, there's a lot of WOM about WOMM. "

Google launches Trends

2006-05-11T21:20:00.000Z

I predicted this would happen back in October 2005.

It was only a matter of time before Google started to trend its search and news data. As Matthew Hurst writes: -

"There are many clear uses of this particular tool, and some interesting comparisons between the results in search terms and the results in, for example, the blog or message board content space....This is sure to be a big hit in certain user groups, especially marketing and advertising communities."

Watch out Factiva, Biz360, Cymfony and NielsenBuzzMetrics!

Blogs making their impact felt

2006-05-06T11:39:00.000Z

Blogs making their impact felt: "The impact of blogging has reached a tipping point, argues Julian Smith, senior analyst at Jupiter Research.

This week's We Media forum was covered by the blogsAnyone studying the media over the last few months might have noticed a sudden increase in concern about the growth of consumer-created content and the impact of blogging on business."

UCT Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing

2006-03-30T10:54:00.000Z

UCT Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing: "The UCT Unilever Institute for Strategic Marketing will be introducing the results of their latest groundbreaking research project, the Wildfire Index, during a series of seminars in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town early in May.

A world first, the Wildfire Index is the product of an extensive independent research study conducted Research Surveys. Heralded as a breakthrough new marketing tool, the Index has been created specifically for the South African market and provides marketers with a practical tool for identifying and communicating with their brand ambassadors or 'igniters'. For the first time companies will also be able to measure the talk value of their brands.

Recognising the shift away from conventional marketing - and the shift from consumer to prosumer - the researchers on this cutting-edge project examined the power of 'word of mouth' and its impact on brands."

What if brand websites were the best drivers and proofs of Engagement?

2006-03-30T10:50:00.000Z

What if brand websites were the best drivers and proofs of Engagement?: "We really applaude the leading initiative of the Advertising Research Foundation in its efforts to move the advertising industry to finally pay better attention to “consumer empowerment”, and the need to better value media and marketing in their abilities not only to distribute “contacts” but also, and more importantly, to engage consumers. "

Millward Brown starts corporate blog

2006-03-30T10:01:00.000Z

Millward Brown starts corporate blog: "The real reason for setting up this blog comes back to a basic principle of marketing communication: choose the communication channel most relevant to your objective and your target audience. For us the objective is to share our point of view on topics relevant to our clients. We want to engage with the thought leaders in the marketing world, learn from them and, hopefully, contribute some new and different thoughts to the debate."

Ads to Augment Word of Mouth on Lip Balm“Iconic” Carmex to launch new flavors, lines; will advertise

2006-03-30T09:55:00.000Z

Ads to Augment Word of Mouth on Lip Balm: “Iconic” Carmex to launch new flavors, lines; will advertise: "The balm's strong brand heritage and recommendations from doctors have helped it stay strong, said Anna Wang, a consultant with Kline & Co. Pharmacists have voted Carmex their No. 1 recommended lip remedy for the past eight years in trade magazine Pharmacy Times. 'What's interesting about them is they don't really do much advertising. They rely more on word of mouth,' Wang said."

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Seven rules for corporate blogging

2006-03-30T09:37:00.000Z

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Seven rules for corporate blogging: "Microsoft's Robert Scoble, who cowrote a book on corporate blogging called Naked Conversations, now seems intent on turning himself into a case study for why companies shouldn't blog."

Email is dead, long live conversations

2006-03-30T08:31:00.000Z

Email is dead, long live conversations: "The message is clear -- engage me in a conversation, don't just yell at me. There, I've had my rant, now I'm going back to reading Naked Conversations."

You Need Answers? - Yahoo! Buzz Log

2006-03-28T16:18:00.000Z

You Need Answers? - Yahoo! Buzz Log: "Ah, the quest for knowledge. It causes scientists to slog through the jungle and peer at petri dishes. It leads philosophers and theologians to ponder serious questions, like 'what is the meaning of life.' It's why we put up with Alex Trebek. But when people really want to get answers to life's pesky questions, they turn to the Search box. "

Interestingly, at number three of the "What is...?" charts is: "What is a blog?", suggesting quite a few people don't know what they are...but are keen to find out.

How to Convince Your Boss to Launch a Word-of-Mouth Marketing Campaign: 4 Steps

2006-03-28T10:30:00.000Z

How to Convince Your Boss to Launch a Word-of-Mouth Marketing Campaign: 4 Steps: "If you're working for a Fortune 1000, you may find your biggest word-of-mouth marketing challenge is building consensus that word-of-mouth is worth doing at all. Your ideas could be shot down by internal politics and naysayers. "

Bazaarvoice Integrates ''The Ultimate Question(TM)'' Into Its Customer Ratings & Reviews Solution: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

2006-03-28T10:28:00.000Z

Bazaarvoice Integrates ''The Ultimate Question(TM)'' Into Its Customer Ratings & Reviews Solution: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance: "Bazaarvoice, an innovator in helping brands use online word of mouth to build their businesses, today introduced Net Promoter, a new feature designed to extend the strategic impact of on-site ratings and reviews for customer-centric organizations. Immediately available free of charge to clients, Net Promoter allows Bazaarvoice clients to easily ask every reviewer The Ultimate Question(TM): 'Would you recommend this company to a friend?' Responses are collected and analyzed by Bazaarvoice alongside review data, giving brands precise insight into the satisfaction levels of their most influential online customers."

RED HERRING | Marketing’s Latest Buzz

2006-03-27T08:36:00.000Z

RED HERRING Marketing’s Latest Buzz: "Just as the world’s governments have slowly learned to turn their electronic ears toward Internet chatter in hopes of detecting early signs of a conspiracy, companies are listening to the growing online din of consumers offering their views on everything from trans-fat to Trans-Ams. In marketing lingo, it’s known as consumer-generated media (CGM)."

Bush Use Blogs Spread the Good Word

2006-03-23T14:40:00.000Z

Bush Use Blogs Spread the Good Word: "According to Wizbang President Bush during an audience Q&A encouraged supporters of the war to use blogs and word of mouth to spread good news about Iraq... "

Tucson Weekly : Music : Blog Break

2006-03-23T08:55:00.000Z

Tucson Weekly : Music : Blog Break: "The story it turned into is one about how word of mouth, file sharing and Internet blogs actually can do the work of a record label, street team and publicist combined. "

Are we measuring the wrong one number?

2006-03-22T16:59:00.000Z

Are we measuring the wrong one number?: "Essentially, my issue with Reichheld and Marsden et al is that they seem to argue that advocacy is an end in itself. To my mind, person-to-person recommendations are a beneficial side-effect of a positive relationship between a brand and its consumers. It's fantastic when people spontaneously endorse brands they love, but most of the time, we should be focussing on long-term brand building that fosters real engagement (mutual value), and see the advocacy as a secondary benefit."

Negative Word of Mouth More Powerful

2006-03-22T09:49:00.000Z

Negative Word of Mouth More Powerful: "Are you still nonchalent when it comes to tracking negative consumer-generated media?

Do you think it doesn't effect your company? A new study will likely change your mind.

According to the Customer Dissatisfaction Study, released today, more than 50% of American shoppers say a negative shopping experience of a friend or co-worker will prevent them from setting foot in a store altogether. "

MediaGuardian.co.uk | New media | Blogging was the perfect fit for me

2006-03-21T12:11:00.000Z

MediaGuardian.co.uk New media Blogging was the perfect fit for me: "with an experienced blogger to guide me, I started my blog, EnglishCut.com. I just wrote about what I knew. I wrote about tailoring, I wrote about Savile Row, I wrote about my competition and my friends in the business. I just told the truth.

Well, to make a long story short, it worked. Within a couple of months between one and 2,000 people were reading it a day. And business became very brisk, I am delighted to report."

Can Marketers Control CGM? Should They?

2006-03-21T12:09:00.000Z

Can Marketers Control CGM? Should They?: "Probably not, but there's clear evidence in the momentous march to so-called engagement -- one of the top themes at this week's packed Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) conference -- that marketers are at least trying to open up the conversation."

Blogging Is the New Viral Marketing

2006-03-17T09:24:00.000Z

Blogging Is the New Viral Marketing: "“Link baiting” is a rather inelegant term for publishing content on a blog that is so newsworthy, interesting, funny, or shocking that other bloggers and publishers link to it en masse, causing that particular blog post to spread virally all over the Internet. Small businesses and entrepreneurs have figured out that creating this type of content is more valuable than advertising. And it’s free."

Craigslist, the newspaper 'killer', sets its sights on UK

2006-03-16T10:24:00.000Z

Craigslist, the newspaper 'killer', sets its sights on UK: "Newspaper proprietors and employees should get nervous. Craigslist, the classified advertising website known as the 'killer' of newspapers in the US, predicted yesterday it will see exponential growth in the UK...Craigslist does not advertise its services as it has no marketing budget and instead relies on word of mouth"

Micro Persuasion: Chevy Open Sources Its Ad

2006-03-16T09:30:00.000Z

Micro Persuasion: Chevy Open Sources Its Ad: "Adrants reports that Chevy has teamed with The Apprentice to launch a consumer-generated advertising contest for the 2007 Chevy Tahoe. It was heavily featured in the show. Chevy set up a site where consumers can click and drag commercial components together to create an ad. "

Now the little guy is the true pit bull of journalism

2006-03-15T11:55:00.000Z

Now the little guy is the true pit bull of journalism: (via http://myownpublicworld.blogspot.com/) "...blogs offer real people an equal footing in terms of creating media in a way that should keep the mainstream media (and others) honest, but I'm not sure I see that there are any real technological advantages that the traditional media owners can't exploit to improve what they offer to readers. Go on ... disagree with me."

BBC NEWS - Super surfers oust couch potatoes

2006-03-14T12:00:00.000Z

BBC NEWS - Super surfers oust couch potatoes: "Browsing the internet has overtaken watching TV as the nation's favourite leisure activity, says a new report. "

Edelman News

2006-03-14T11:58:00.000Z

Edelman News: "Global opinion leaders say their most credible source of information about a company is now “a person like me,” which has risen dramatically to surpass doctors and academic experts for the first time, according to the seventh annual Edelman Trust Barometer, a survey of nearly 2,000 opinion leaders in 11 countries. In the U.S., trust in “a person like me” increased from 20% in 2003 to 68% today. Opinion leaders also consider rank-and-file employees more credible spokespersons than corporate CEOs (42% vs. 28% in the U.S.). "

Take Note of your Customer Care

2006-03-14T10:55:00.000Z

Take Note of your Customer Care : "Portals such as http://3g.co.uk become central discussion points for many customers to vent frustration at poor service, poor products or just plain poor phones. A good strategy to get to know your customer better is to skim read the conversation threads and look at what is getting the most attention (you never know it might be the latest way to get free calls for prepaid customers)."

Eavesdropping Becomes Latest Marketing Craze

2006-03-14T10:51:00.000Z

Eavesdropping Becomes Latest Marketing Craze: "When I see one cover story about a new technology, it may catch my attention. But when I see two, I know that I'm seeing the hippest trend since the Slingbox.
The cover of BusinessWeek last month said that the vast amount of unstructured data available on the Internet will change the way market research will be conducted. Then this month the technology quarterly section of the Economist (you will need a subscription to read this article) said the same thing."

NY Times Gets Stealth Marketing Wrong

2006-03-14T10:49:00.000Z

NY Times Gets Stealth Marketing Wrong: (via Cymfony's Marketing Insight): "A New York Times article titled 'For Tobacco, Stealth Marketing Is the Norm' is dead wrong. The marketing tactics cited are legitimate and pragmatic, even innovative given the constraints on tobacco marketing. They don't match WOMMA's definition of stealth marketing: tactics that attempt to hide the marketer's identity and fool the consumer. The Word of Mouth Marketing industry needs to keep this definition sharp to avoid confusion and keep the focus on the illegitimate practices that could undermine consumer trust. "

The rise of the creative consumer - Economist

2006-03-14T10:36:00.000Z

The rise of the creative consumer - Economist: (via http://www.consumerempowerment.com/) "LAST November, engineers in the healthcare division of General Electric (GE) unveiled something called the “LightSpeed VCT”, a scanner that can create a startlingly good three-dimensional image of a beating heart. This spring Staples, an American office-supplies retailer, will stock its shelves with a gadget called a “wordlock”, a padlock that uses words instead of numbers. In Munich, meanwhile, engineers at BMW have begun prototyping telematics (combining computing and telecoms) and online services for a new generation of luxury cars. The connection? In each case, the firm's customers have played a big part (GE, BMW) or the leading role (Staples) in designing the product."

Blog buzz helps companies catch trends

2006-03-14T10:23:00.000Z

Blog buzz helps companies catch trends: "ConAgra Foods got an early warning from chatter on the Internet that the low-carb craze was fading. The huge food company, based in Omaha, Neb., seized the chance to promote an alternative menu — its Healthy Choice soups, entrees and lunch meats."

Tapping the blogosphere for market research

2006-03-14T10:20:00.000Z

Tapping the blogosphere for market research: "Last fall, a leading paint maker discovered the power of the blogosphere. The company, which asked not to be identified, makes a popular brand of paint primers but had recently launched a summerlong campaign to introduce a full line of paints. It was an aggressive new initiative into a competitive market. The company wanted to know if its message was hitting home."

Jack Trout Fishes for a Hook

2006-03-10T12:18:00.000Z

Jack Trout Fishes for a Hook: "Marketing today is much more like sailing than driving. Your boat is the brand. If you point your boat in the right direction, follow the winds/currents and steer, you will get the boat to go where you want it. Marketers should become the wind, but accept that they're at the mercy of the currents and weather. Word of mouth marketing, when done right, is the wind. "

Meet the Super Connectors: A New Generation of Techies Drive Teen Culture According to GenWorld Teen Study: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

2006-03-09T10:53:00.000Z

Meet the Super Connectors: A New Generation of Techies Drive Teen Culture According to GenWorld Teen Study: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance: "CHICAGO, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology isn't just for geeks anymore. Among teens worldwide, a new technology-savvy social-networking teen has emerged -- the SuperConnector.

As access and technological proficiency increased over the past decade, the profile of the most wired teens has changed dramatically, according to the 13-nation GenWorld Teen Study of 3,322 teens recently conducted by Energy BBDO (www.energyBBDO.com)."

Ashley Cole as a test case

2006-03-08T12:04:00.000Z

Ashley Cole as a test case: (via: http://myownpublicworld.blogspot.com/) "It's an interesting case of new and old media meeting. There doesn't seem to have been a massive 'frenzy' of chat about the story online: Blogpulse shows a peak of 14 posts (searching for 'Ashley Cole') on Feb 20th, though this then rose again to 25 posts on the day that court case was announced. From another point of view, there's little doubt that without the reach of the internet, any photo that revealed Cole as the subject of the story would never have got any significant circulation."

Is Word Of Mouth All It's Cracked Up To Be? - Forbes.com

2006-03-07T12:13:00.000Z

Is Word Of Mouth All It's Cracked Up To Be? - Forbes.com: "First of all, world-of-mouth isn't new much less 'the next big thing' that WOMMA declares. A third-party endorsement of your product has always been the Holy Grail. It's more believable. In prior days, we used to try and find the 'early adapters' for a product. We figured they had big mouths and loved to tell their friends and neighbors about their new widget."

Bloggers lure blog watchers

2006-03-07T10:09:00.000Z

Bloggers lure blog watchers: "Candy Tang writes her blog (online diary) almost every day to share experiences and feelings with readers. Tang, 26, regards it a pleasure but someone may be 'watching' her blogs daily for commercial opportunities.
The 'blog watch' service providers collect people's comments and opinions on select topics such as various brands of products and services, including Nokia or Sony, on the blogs or BBS (online forum) and sell reports to the owners of the brands. "

Blink and you'll miss it - the mascara sold every five seconds

2006-03-07T10:08:00.000Z

Blink and you'll miss it - the mascara sold every five seconds: "'There's been a lot of advertising surrounding it but it's also been word of mouth.
'We get a lot of ladies coming in and telling us how pleased they are with the product and they're telling friends who come in and want to buy it for themselves."

What's the ROI of a blog?

2006-02-27T14:29:00.000Z

What's the ROI of a blog?: "We had an interesting conversation with a prospect for our new CGM Dashboard software. As usual we explained that it was specifically geared for consumer generated media parameters such as comments, trackbacks, nature of comment, type of comment etc. there was a lot of head nodding and hmmming and then at the end the PR guys said 'but what’s the bottom line? When I go into my boss he expects to see a dollar sign like an ad value equivalency or something. Don’t you have that formula? ' "

The problem with Citizen Journalism

2006-02-27T09:09:00.000Z

The problem with Citizen Journalism: "User generated content presents a lot of challenges for newsrooms and the biggest might be what to call it. For better or for worse, citizen journalism is a moniker that appears to be sticking. Probably for worse."

New WoM Blog

2006-02-23T11:16:00.000Z

I've just come across a new WoM blog. The great thing about this blog is the author's (I'm reliably informed that this author know his onions when it comes to the world of marketing) sobering, sceptical stance which is long overdue. I think so many companies are just too busy trying to climb the hype-curve at the moment...

Venture Chronicles: Using Social Media at SAP

2006-02-16T11:01:00.000Z

Interesting commentary from SAP about blog analytics: -

Venture Chronicles: Using Social Media at SAP: "On the technology side there are a couple of things to report. The first is that blog analytics have a long way to go. These technologies are very good at giving your graphs and charts that track various aspects of conversations, but nothing that I have seen helps me understand who is in the community, who is influential, and how I reach them... in short, they aren't telling me what I don't know but want to know. Basically, I am focusing most of my energy on getting monitoring of blogs and forums in place, analytics I can do later. Speaking of analytics, a lot of the vendors I have seen want to give me an analyst function instead of automated analytics, in other words, somebody on the other end of the line is going to tell me what something means. I have 52 analysts in competitive intelligence, I surely don't need to pay a third party to provide me with an analysis of competitive news. "

Apple: From Computer Geek to Style Icon

2006-02-14T13:58:00.000Z

I've managed to get my hands on a report written by Millward Brown for WPP's BrandZ brand equity study.

It's called "From Computer Geek to Style Icon" and chronicles Apple's brand-highs and brand-lows from 1976 to the present day.

You can download it here.

So what does Apple teach us about brand revitalisation? : -

i) Strip out what makes the brand great - focus communication and product development on this

ii) Don’t feel pressured to appeal to everyone – greater loyalty amongst a smaller group can be just as powerful

iii) Believe in your brand – internal confidence helps drive consumer credibility

iv) Exploit halo opportunities - where there is a clear link between Corporate identity and brands facilitate a two way transfer of credible values

v) Be consistent – drive clarity of associations right through the line

Point ii) above reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell's "Law of the Few" in his book "The Tipping Point": a tiny percentage of the people do the majority of the work to build momentum.

How do you feel about Apple as a brand? Maybe you could give Matt Galloway's new 'buzz-o-phone' a try?

Micro Persuasion: Blog Measurement Needs Standards

2006-02-08T09:29:00.000Z

Micro Persuasion: Blog Measurement Needs Standards: "New data from Gallup notes that one in five Americans say they consult blogs “frequently” or at least “occasionally.” Earlier Gallup figures found that 21 percent of 18-29 year olds read blogs, while Pew pegged the blog consumption audience at 58 percent last year. "

KDPaine's PR Measurement Blog: The must-download podcast

2006-01-20T10:10:00.000Z

KDPaine's PR Measurement Blog: The must-download podcast: "For anyone interested in measurement, you HAVE to listen to Shel Holz and Neville Hobson's podcast interview with Peter Blackshaw. They essentially discuss what's been bugging me for the last 24 hours, which is: What is the true, long-term implication of the Intelliseek/Buzz Metrics deal? "

Nielsen-BuzzMetrics

2006-01-17T14:10:00.000Z

The new company—marketing its services under the Nielsen BuzzMetrics brand—will bring together the advanced technologies and client relationships of Intelliseek, developed over the past nine years, with the linguistic technologies and client-service expertise of BuzzMetrics. Click here to read the release.

Sentiment Analysis Comes to Free Blog Search: Opinmind

2005-12-09T16:59:00.000Z

Sentiment Analysis Comes to Free Blog Search: Opinmind: "I got an email today from James Kim, CEO of new blog search site Opinmind. By new, I mean brand new - they are only indexing 1.7 million blogs but they are growing. Their approach is Google-esque simple with few bells or whistles but they've added one very interesting twist - sentiment analysis."

The Consumerist

2005-12-08T16:40:00.000Z

The Consumerist

Hate paying for shoddy products, inhumane customer support and half-assed service? Then this blog is clearly for you.

Starbucks: Using Confrontational Marketing to Build Brand Awareness in a Saturated Market

2005-12-08T11:47:00.000Z

Starbucks: Using Confrontational Marketing to Build Brand Awareness in a Saturated Market: "Today as I was crossing the Embarcadero I noticed that this gentleman had left his coffee on the roof of his car. Midway through the cross walk I turned and pointed at him and he just waved at me. I ran back to the other side of the crosswalk and approached his window as he wasn't getting what I was pointing at. When I got close enough to speak to him I told him that his coffee was on his roof. He looked at me and said, 'I know, Happy Holiday's from Starbucks!' "

Data Mining: Google Blog Search Update

2005-12-08T10:18:00.000Z

Data Mining: Google Blog Search Update: "So what's up with Google? Was blog search a simple me too feature with no real plan to win the market? Are they too distracted by the launch of other tools? Is their acquired blog hosting system falling apart? Given the frantic pace at which others in the space are innovating, why is Google dropping its balls?"

Micro Persuasion: Study: 'Dell Hell' Had a Measurable Impact on the Dell Brand

2005-12-08T10:15:00.000Z

Micro Persuasion: Study: 'Dell Hell' Had a Measurable Impact on the Dell Brand: "A new white paper unleashed today by Response Source revealed that that blogging has a direct influence on corporate reputation. The white paper (PDF), ?Measuring the Influence of Bloggers on Corporate Reputation? scientifically measured Jeff Jarvis?s criticism this summer of Dell. It found that the rants Jeff started had a lasting, negative impact on Dell's brand."

Micro Persuasion: Cymfony Nails Nail

2005-12-08T10:14:00.000Z

Micro Persuasion: Cymfony Nails Nail: "Cymfony, a company that mines blogs and the MSM for PR professionals, has hired Forrester's Jim Nail as its first chief marketing and strategy officer. Congrats to Jim. There's a lot of attention paid to the free blog search sites, but don't overlook a dogfight heating up on the high-end as well between the vendors who provide paid services. This group includes Intelliseek, Buzzmetrics and Cymfony."

The Practical Value of Disclosure in Word-of-Mouth Marketing Campaigns

2005-12-08T10:06:00.000Z

The Practical Value of Disclosure in Word-of-Mouth Marketing Campaigns: "Today BzzAgent has released a white paper (link opens PDF in new window) arguing for the practical value of disclosure in word-of-mouth marketing campaigns."

Automated Sentiment Detection

2005-12-05T15:47:00.000Z

Automated Sentiment Detection: "Much of this work is still at the university level and the papers published in the area focus on trying to detect the opinions of authors in movie reviews, hotel ratings, etc. The recent interest in monitoring blogs is spurring more discussion in the commercial space."

Apple, Evangelism, and Buzz Building

2005-12-05T10:29:00.000Z

Apple, Evangelism, and Buzz Building: "What is Consumer Generated Media? Ask, Daphna Kalfon, who's making big waves on the web with her highly evangelistic 'I Love My Mac' song, which has actually been around for quite some time but got 're-discovered' by the blogging community in recent days."

Micro Persuasion: PR Pitching via Blog Comments

2005-12-05T10:21:00.000Z

Micro Persuasion: PR Pitching via Blog Comments: "I think the short answer here is that PR pros need to take this on a case by case basis depending on the attitude and personality of the blogger and its readers. It's a vast gray area. What do you think?"

The effect of reviews on book sales

2005-12-05T10:17:00.000Z

The effect of reviews on book sales: "In short, positive reviews boost sales and negative reviews lower sales -- and the effect of the negative reviews is stronger than the effect of the positive reviews."

Have you been buzzed?

2005-12-03T16:33:00.000Z

Have you been buzzed?: "Shearer works for BzzAgent, Inc., a Boston--based marketing firm that uses 'word of mouth' advertising, also known as 'buzz marketing,' to help companies sell products. BzzAgent says it requires Shearer -- one of 1,000 BzzAgents in Indianapolis and 105,000 throughout the country -- to reveal his commercial ties to friends and family upfront."

Micro Persuasion: Firefox Seeks Consumer Generated Ads with New Campaign

2005-12-02T10:30:00.000Z

Micro Persuasion: Firefox Seeks Consumer Generated Ads with New Campaign: "Mozilla tonight is launching an innovative customer evangelist marketing campaign called Firefox Flicks that will run on the Spread Firefox web site. The campaign supports the launch of Firefox 1.5, according to Rafael Ebron, product marketing manager. "

Tech PR Gems: WOM = MLM?

2005-12-02T09:46:00.000Z

Tech PR Gems: WOM = MLM?: "If WOM marketing gets out of control and loses its credibility, it will ultimately collapse--maybe not quite as dramatically as the old Ponzi schemes that still unfortunately haunt MLM's reputation, but collapse it will."

Word-of-mouth marketing abuzz

2005-12-02T09:02:00.000Z

Word-of-mouth marketing abuzz: "A study from the Canadian Verde Group says half of Canadians won't have anything to do with a store if they've heard something bad about it. Conversely, consulting firm McKinsey & Co. say two-thirds of U.S. consumer-good sales have been influenced by word-of-mouth. "

Apple spends a bundle on iPod ads | CNET News.com

2005-12-02T09:01:00.000Z

Apple spends a bundle on iPod ads | CNET News.com: "Apple also can depend on word of mouth to sell its products. 'The reason they get such great leverage from their ad campaigns is that they have products that people want to talk about.' "

USATODAY.com - Online rumor mill dogs companies

2005-12-01T10:06:00.000Z

USATODAY.com - Online rumor mill dogs companies: "The e-mail circulating in Washington last month said a former government lawyer knew a guy whose dog had to be put to sleep because he walked on a floor cleaned with Procter & Gamble's Swiffer WetJet, licked his paws and developed liver disease. Two of the cats owned by the man's maid, who also used the product at home, were said to have died, too. "

Brands and Consumer Backlash

2005-11-29T16:15:00.000Z

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

2005-11-29T11:13:00.000Z

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

2005-11-29T10:59:00.000Z

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

2005-11-29T10:49:00.000Z

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?

2005-11-29T09:14:00.000Z

'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

2005-11-29T09:09:00.000Z

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

2005-11-24T14:50:00.000Z

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

2005-11-24T09:43:00.000Z

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

2005-11-24T08:53:00.000Z

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

2005-11-17T21:36:00.000Z

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?

2005-11-17T16:21:00.000Z

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

2005-11-17T15:07:00.000Z

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

2005-11-16T15:58:00.000Z

Yahoo! embraces word-of-mouth in shopping redesign

2005-11-16T12:50:00.000Z

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

2005-11-16T09:29:00.000Z

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

2005-11-16T09:20:00.000Z

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

2005-11-15T16:33:00.000Z

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

2005-11-15T14:39:00.000Z

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

2005-11-15T11:06:00.000Z

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

2005-11-15T10:19:00.000Z

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

2005-11-15T10:18:00.000Z

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

2005-11-15T10:13:00.000Z

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?

2005-11-09T09:42:00.000Z

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

2005-11-09T09:18:00.000Z

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

2005-11-08T17:02:00.000Z

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

2005-11-08T10:10:00.000Z

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'

2005-11-04T21:39:00.000Z

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

2005-11-04T09:34:00.000Z

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

2005-11-04T09:32:00.000Z

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

2005-11-04T09:18:00.000Z

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

2005-11-04T09:08:00.000Z

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

2005-11-03T17:24:00.000Z

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?

2005-11-03T15:48:00.000Z

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

2005-11-03T15:43:00.000Z

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?

2005-11-03T13:51:00.000Z

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

2005-11-02T17:13:00.000Z

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

2005-11-02T15:03:00.000Z

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.