MIXX and Consumer Insights
Conference Report: The Race for Consumer Insights
As marketers gain a deeper understanding of the new consumer, known as the "Influencer" - highly networked people who spread the word, and inspire others with their recommendations - finding ways to connect with them has become a critical part of the brand building strategy. If they can secure peoples’ time and attention, that’s the first step to making a brand connection. In this session, leading media and marketing professionals will discuss the latest advancements in building trusted and engaging environments that attract influencers, and how marketers are making brand connections with those consumers in those environments.
Moderator: Melanie Wells, Assistant Managing Editor, Forbes
Panelists: Jonathan Carson, CEO, Nielsen BuzzMetrics
Bruce C. Ertmann, Corporate Manager, Consumer Generated Media Corporate Communications, Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc.
Joseph Gillespie, Executive Vice President, CNET Networks
Adam Kasper, SVP, Director of Digital Media, Media Contacts
MW: success for brands is now ‘real people’ eg Caitlyn one of 20k people in New York used by P&G to spread the word through their network. People are on the web all the time, talking - good and bad - about brands. So what tools do we use to help this; Jonathan, what is going on this space. 60m blogs, 70k online community. You eavesdrop, scrape data and now analysing to see how chatter relates to sales.
JC: we started in 1999 and until recently it was focused on the insights piece, like customer research on a new type of data, better, faster, cheaper and more of it, but the questions were still traditional. In the last 18m or so, esp in last 6 months, there is a move to look at the data as a type of data, to analyse it as a type of media, add to the planning as WOM as a channel and an end goal.
MW: what is the best way to participate?
JC: there are a lot of ways. we saw people treating the channel as a PR exercise, see important journalists, reach out with message and pitch. using it as a customer service forum, if they had a problem they would reach out. A new development is thinking about this as a media channel, brand create the media platform and engaging in consumers in that way. Seeing a lot of success. and advertising and stuff is the last one, it is not a big blast, but micro-targeting around passions and interests. People organise in interest groups, they self-organise in groups, makes it easier to find. eg 60k starbuck fans on facebook. think about what SBUX could do with that. what is exciting is that you can look at the rings of individuals they interact with and build publishing around the group.
CW: can this happen? Bruce, 2 yrs ago you did not know what a blog was? I’d like to hear about the genesis of the blog.
BE: I knew they existed but not sure if I could define them 2 yrs ago we were reluctant to get into the online world as much as should have been. we were a little remiss. We spent a lot of time coaching dealers about how to advantage of the web, taking online sales opps but as a corporate entity we did not do the same. we were not aware of the rich resources, in terms of consumers and customers and what was being said. I was asked to delve into this a little more. I work in corp comms, the PR effort, I did a deep dive into CGM, it’s called non-traditional media but it will become more ‘traditional media’ before too long. Created my own job…I started the blog June 1 this year.
CW: Looking at conversations you have found and these you jumped in on? Al Gore Jr in his Prius caught speeding (an aside to audience about not knowing Prius’s went that fast)
BE: (a clarification that as a corporate representative he needs to be careful talking about speeding!) We used some selected sites, Priuschat.com. We used those forums to engage with members, jump into conversations, it took some time and work to validate that we were Toyota…the Prius is one of more successful, the market is vary hot, we are always looking at ways to put forth our position…Al Gore provided an opportunity, he was arrested for doing 101 miles…I was curious about what kind of Prius he was using. We used the opportunity to pick a little fun and to point out a few virtues of the car in the discussion.
CW: Joe, you are at CNET, you are collecting a lot of data about people looking for product info metrics; how are you helping marketers?
JG: we focus on thngs people are passionate about. Part of what we promise the marketing is that we aggregate the audience, represent the early majority, we spend a lot of time getting marketers to look at what is about to happen not just what happened With Samsung…many are researching tech products. online is still a portion of total sales but many start with online research. CNET is a major research tool. through our BI tool we can see what brands, features etc that people are looking for . In 2006 Samsung came to us, asking about what they can do for their TV. research was plasma in living room and LCD in bedroom. They dove deep into our data to understand what people are looking for and what was the competitive set. Used that…and then in 12 months they are the no1 on the CNET and the consideration set. You need to focus on considered usages, how can we impart what is happening on that research process.
CW: how are social media sites affecting?
JG: SN sites are marvelous marketing opps. We had a facebook faceoof..we had 20 submissions in the company. we have a ‘myprods’ app, show what you love or hate. can share with friends. we get to import the data that we have in the back end to the widget. it’s yet another terrific audience opps..to do sampling before you get to CNET. we are ready to help you. TechTracker media..our version of MyCNET, create services on managing your digital works and life. eg around the site you can record what you own. I can tell you what software and drivers are on data. I can read what USB appliances are there Looking at creating a system agent - a service proposition.
CW: what are marketers going to need, where are they going to get the best info?
AK: we work with clients to do consumer media strategies. we work to understand what consumers are saying, to monitor the chatter we have a product that does not require as much as an investment but can still deliver the type of insights on how to approach site
CW: Bruce anything you are not getting?
BE: the filtering and finding things that are truly significant and having the ability and technology to stay on top of it. it is opps to engage, listening, that are important.
JC: huge opps, large increase in publishers,,, the agency model is based on a specifc cut of spend and we are talking aobut channels that do not have a traditional spend model, not a paid media exercise. agencies have to be willing to move away from the safe model. You can say theoretical that most agencies have done that but much is still on the trad stuff. (RC: definitely agree with this - the current agency model is broken when it comes to new media, trying to help companies use it as the revenue model is not worked out - how do clients pay for this type of work?)
AK: we work on different models, where there are not a lot of dollars associated with the channel, you need a more creative financial agreement. It’s important to think about it in the context of media overall, an agency can bring the ability to decipher the entire universe and understand where dollars go on a macro basis.
CW: Adam, do you think some companies should not be here at all.
AK: we have some clients that cannot due to gov regs. there are some that are conservative by nature..they could not get over the concern around negative content, for those, you have to look carefully and understand what the downfalls.
BEL that would describe Toyota. we are subject to gov regs and are a very conservative org…even today there is quite some sceptics that worry when we put up posts that drive attention. we try and integrate what we are doing across the areas, with some of the key stakeholders, like marketing, cust relations etc.
CW: internally you are still fighting the fight?
BE: still swimming upstream; legal were careful about the reg things. we showed then that we do have standards and polices. we have demonstrated that there was real value in putting out our messaging, in a responsible, authentic transparent manner. (RC: as I’ve previously written, you have to keep the stakeholders on board and demonstrate the benefits, show that you are responsible)
CW: there have been time you could join a conversation that is not going so well and turn it around…what do it does when it goes bad?
AK: the way Toyota has approached is great - open forum but monitored. a company needs to maintain some control, but they have to respond in someway. do not it turn into setting that completely spins out of control..have to stay involved with it.
CW: all this data collection, when does this get creepy:
JG: when there is no value in it. if I collect info and promise a better experience. when do not deliver, then that is bad,
JC: when we started, we thought that would be a defining issue for us? what we found is that is that when blogs hit, the whole goal is to get attention, the expectation around privacy reduced about content that you publish 2nd the idea of googling info about individuals becomes common. Consumers assume a HR manager will Google them before a job interview, more threatening than data in an anon research. Is this an age thing or is it a cultural thing? Myspace exploded as it let things out. AOL was always obsessively private, but myspace was all about putting info out there.
Audience Questions
Q: we don’t get info about indiviauals (at pepsi). it is perception of invasion of privacy an issue?
JG: we take it seriously, but it is not that complicated. It’s about brand authenticity, keep it open so we can have a 2-way conversations. we are discerning about what info we collect. It is all through prism about what does consumer get out of it.
Q: do you have moderators on blog..do you have ’street teams’ on the site to influence? or just the one person.
BE: blogs.toyota.com We thought about haveing it authors at a higher level, C-level etc, but it is a brand level blog, give consumers a glimpse inside the org, not tainted/cloaked in marketing in the same way our website is. (RC: these were his words, interesting choice) We put up posts that are identified, by a few of us, we try and feature our VP once a week. On pertinent issues. (RC: the questioner was asking if they have people pretending to be consumers, ie astroturfing on their own and other blogs/boards. It was not too clear about what was being asked, hence the reply about the bloggers on the site)
CW: when interacting on sites do you have other people doing stuff?
BE: thats a bad thing to do.
Q: you saying that you do not do that?
BE: we are not anonymous..we are open of who we are. we use TMSUSA…
CW: that is a little anon..
GE: but the username gives a profile
JC that type of activity [anon posting] is deceptive and probably illegal. You will be found out. It will hurt you.
AK: where do you see the line in sending people to blogs and paying consumers…
JC: there’s no grey in that for me
AK: but that is out there
JC: a clear rule of thumb. if you are deceiving in any way, hide the fact that this is a marketing message, then do not do it.
(RC: there was a lot of passion behind the original question, it felt to me like an absolute conviction that Toyota do this type of practice and he was trying to catch them out and get them to admit it. To me, it seemed slightly strange, I’m wondering if the questioner has received or seen comments that could be ‘false’, or if he’s been told they do it. In my experience, companies that are out there being themselves are not also doing astroturfing or using secret street teams - at least not from the same section. Although the recent activities of Ford makes me question that assumption!)
Q: how may of your bloggers are customers? Is it part of your CRM system? (RC: pretty sure there was some confusion there, as we were talking about a corporate blog, not one run by customers. Toyota interact with customers in other places, on the boards, so that may have confused it)
BE: we have one blog. There is also Priuschat.com, most of whom are our customers. For every active person, there are lots that are just lurkers,. I always assume that the ones targeted to our models are just filled with passionate users. the forum members tend to mirror what we believe the demographic for the models is. Not in CRM system yet. Customer service are involved if there are problems. (RC: this is good - a link between the PR and comms team that are involved in being in the conversation back to Customer Service to make sure things happen when they need to)
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POSTED IN: Blogging and Blogs, Buzz Marketing, Consumer Packaged Goods, Engaging the Customer, Metrics and Research
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