Check out a cool experiment by blogger Noah Brier: Brand Tags. This experiment proves that consumers control brands - brands are what consumers say. On this site you can tag brands yourself, or you can see what others are saying about brands. Very cool and fun. Enjoy.
Focus groups feel so old-school. Marketers have been doing them forever and the methodology really hasn’t changed all that much since that “Mad Men” era. With the crazy amounts of consumer-generated media available to marketers, it is odd that we would even bother convene focus groups to tell us what consumers think about the brands we represent: people are telling us–and the world–without our asking. It seems that some companies are latching on to this new media better than others and using blog communities to gather relevant insights. As reported in AdWeek:
“Now firms with expertise ranging from research and word of mouth to digital media are setting up closed communities for clients to tap into the nuances, the spontaneity and the language of consumers engaging in a leisurely change, a different dynamic to one where they sit face-to-face in a focus group for a prescribed period of time. Some of the initiatives focus on a specific topic for a couple of weeks; others create a longer, ongoing conversation.
“‘…when you are a running a qualitative blog: You have people for 10 to 15 days, which is a huge amount of time for them to think about their answers and to challenge your own questions, which makes a big difference in results. What people say when they talk together is more interesting than what they say when they talk to us. What they say peer to peer is more sincere and sometimes very intimate.”
“Text Analytics–a general term for the mining and interpretation of written words–has been used for more than two decades, most notably by the defense industry as far back as the Cold War to read into the word choices and text of, say, a speech written by Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev.” — according to a recent article in Ad Age.
The article goes on to say that marketers are increasingly using text analytics to mine information from customer service surveys, e-mails, online forums, and blogs. “…while the blogosphere and social networks have so far not proved great advertising media, text analytics offers the potential to make them stronger marketing vehicles.”
Dove used the tool to not only understand reactions to their campaign, but to gain an understanding of what motivates people, which issues are most important to women in their target group, and how to create better products and messaging for them. All by using text analytics from content on its own message boards.
What a fantastic way to leverage social media tools with a quantitative analysis!
Over the holiday shopping season, Wal-Mart launched a new blog, CheckOutBlog.com. This blog is a new and interesting approach for Wal-Mart. The NY Times reported on this new blog over the weekend:
“Known for its strict, by-the-books culture — accepting a cup of coffee from a supplier can be a firing offense — Wal-Mart is now encouraging its merchants to speak frankly, even critically, about the products the chain carries.
“This unusual new Web site, which was quietly created during the holiday shopping season, has become a forum for unvarnished rants about gadgets, raves about new video games and advice on selecting environmentally sustainable food.
“…Wal-Mart’s site…turns the traditional model on its head. Instead of relying on polished high-level executives, it is written by little-known buyers, largely without editing.
“The result is an intensely personal window into the lives, preferences and quirks of the powerful tastemakers at Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, who have spent years shielded from public view.”
I wonder if won’t still be met with some skepticism just because it is hosted by “Wal-Mart.” It is a very interesting approach, and if nothing else, shows some progressiveness for the brand that is right in line with positioning it has taken on sustainability. If they keep this up, they just might gradually change perceptions of Wal-Mart — a task that at once seemed impossible, but could now be a plausible outcome.
Everyone has an opinion. Here is where other Stone Ward staffers are expressing theirs:
Blake’s Think Tank - Blake Rutherford, our Director of Public Communications, writes about politics and other current events.
Monkey Bulb - Chris Kindrick, Art Director, comments on creative executions of advertising.
Officially Lucky - Clint Ecker, Senior Web Developer, is a source for all technology and social networking.
Ain’t Misbehavin’ - Kyle Riley, Public Communications Account Executive, records news that is too good not to pass along.
The Angry Czeck - Jeremy Harper, Senior Copywriter, calls his blog “the most furious newsletter in modern times.”
Enjoy.