Articles

Engaging Brand Advocates through Search and Social Media

A recent article on iMedia Connection featured the results of a study from Yahoo! and how to engage automotive advocates, “car experts”, through search and social media.

Lon Bollenbacher, Yahoo!'s automotive category director, said the study explored how the internet has dramatically changed the nature of how these advocates build and share expertise. The internet is one of the most important tools in the car decision-making process, with 75 percent of all buyers using online resources before buying a vehicle.

What Yahoo! found is that advocates not only recommended their vehicle to twice the number of consumers than non-advocates, but also convinced more people to actually purchase the same vehicle.

Consumers are relying more and more on the opinions of people known as “advocates” to help with purchases. Advocates are consumer opinion leaders who are well-connected socially, express their opinions and stay on top of finding fresh online content. Although they are a small percentage of automotive buyers (approximately 38 percent in the automotive category), advocates are highly influential.

In terms of building expertise, advocates are much heavier researchers and utilize more sources to gather information prior to making a purchase. This gives marketers a greater opportunity to reach out to them throughout the research and purchase process. While there is always a risk that there will be detractors who speak negatively about your products and brands, most marketers are discovering the pros outweigh the cons. The reality is people are already talking about your brand whether you're involved or not. Marketers who embrace both positive and negative comments directly from the consumer are seen as more credible and trustworthy for providing a forum where users feel they're voices can be heard.

Click here to read the entire article.

Posted on February 12, 2007
Permalink

Becoming Customer Centric helps GE Capital profit by $300 million

GE Capital is one of the winners of the 2007 1to1 Impact Awards that recognizes companies who have been able to inspire ideas and breathe new life into their organization. A recent article in 1to1 Magazine explains how this company expects to make a profit of $300 million by becoming more customer centric.

Net Promoter, a discipline that helps companies to profitably grow by focusing on their customers, was the recipe GE Capital’s success. The key elements of Net Promoter are establishing and defining metrics to link to growth, leadership that encourages customer focus, strategies to ensure adoption and integration with business processes, and operational systems to support the initiative. One of the notable methods of measurement with this discipline is the Net Promoter Score, a customer satisfaction survey which is calculated by the percentage of customers who are promoters subtracted by the percentage who are detractors.All of the Net Promoter elements are well demonstrated in GE Capital's 'In their shoes' campaign, a company-wide promotion encouraging employees to think from the point of view of the customer.

In one instance employees received a shoe box with a copy of The Ultimate Question of Net Promoter "Would you recommend us to a friend or colleague?" printed on a card inside the box. In addition to the shoe box, GE Capital held a contest recognizing top employees demonstrating customer focused behaviour.

An internal "innovation" blog was also launched so people could share their own insights and experiences. And a customer loyalty portal was created to keep staff educated and updated on the Net Promoter Score and the overall 'In Their Shoes' status.

With all these support mechanisms for a customer-centric culture, no wonder GE Capital is expected to go from $1.5 billion profit in 2005 to $1.8 billion for the 2006 fiscal.

If you would like to become more customer centric, consider developing a customer advisory panel with Vision Critical. Since 2000, we've developed 150 panels for organizations such as Liz Claiborne Inc., RIM Blackberry, Cleveland Clinic, Nestle, Valvoline, Telus, Virgin Mobile, WestJet and Sirius Satellite Radio. If you would like to learn how we can help your organization, contact Julie Romas at julie.romas@visioncritical.com or call 604.647.3557.

Posted on February 4, 2007
Permalink

Interactive Mirror Mirror on the Wall

This could be the future of shopping, on display this week at the National Retail Federation's annual convention was a boutique that allowed customers to try on merchandise, look in a mirror and have friend’s text message their thoughts of how it looked. More than a dozen companies, including big names like IBM and Cisco Systems, are demonstrating the latest retail technology in a faux clothing boutique where the line between e-tailing and bricks-and-mortar stores is erased. The new catchphrase is "social retailing," a term coined by the technology consulting firm IconNicholson that combines mobile communication, online networking sites like Facebook and traditional merchandising that could change the way we buy.

In this new world, our friends are constantly online and ready to advise whether those pants really do make our derrieres look big. Checkout lines are nonexistent because we buy items with our cellphones while browsing the store. Retailers know our sizes and text-message us personalized coupons when we walk through their doors.

The equipment and software can be costly and depend on large networks of savvy consumers to be successful. Still, glimpses of this future are popping up in stores. Circuit City allows shoppers to order products online and pick them up at the store. At some branches of Stop & Shop, a grocer based in Massachusetts, customers can use Web tablets to send a wireless message to the deli while they shop. They receive a notice when their order is ready.

Click here to read the entire article

Posted on January 29, 2007
Permalink

Volvo’s Consumer Driven Advertising Pushes Boundaries

An article posted January 2, 2007 on the Advertising Age website, by writer Jean Halliday, puts the spotlight on Volvo’s newest advertising campaign. The effort, begun in the U.K. last year and coming to the U.S. later this year, solicits people's opinions about the entry-level premium hatchback and is themed "product of free will." Volvo asks consumers whether they love or hate its all-new C30. The company does not shy away from showing those who slam the Volvo brand and goes so far as to show a theater audience booing and throwing tomatoes at a woman onstage unveiling the C30.

The quirky but cool website, found at volvocars.com/freewill, offers, among other things 16 short films that will also air on TV, said Tim Ellis, global advertising director of the Ford Motor Co. brand. Mr. Ellis is quoted in saying "we learned that people feel as if we are really talking directly to them, so they consume it and engage with it differently than other typical advertisements."

Volvo’s well researched idea is just another example of the trend towards consumer driven advertising. Consumers watch and rate each clip, then provide feedback on their opinion of the new C30. In return, Volvo gains valuable feedback on their campaign, but more importantly achieves their sole purpose “to get non-Volvo owners to think about and consider the C30”.

Read the full article click here (subscription required).

Posted on January 1, 2007
Permalink

Social Networking Is Hot, but Research Is Hotter

Most people refer to MySpace or YouTube when they discuss online communities. But the future may be those organizations that create smaller niche communities."

Reporting from Ad:Tech, Ad Age reported on the impact of communities and how “advertisers are trying to reach audiences on a large scale through MySpace and YouTube, but the trend that the industry will be seeing in the coming months and years is a focus on smaller, community-based platforms, said Bob Desena, director-active engagement at Mediaedge:cia. "There seems to be this sense of, if you can't do something with 3 million people, is there still lots of engagement?"

As Roy deSouza, CEO, Zedo, pointed out during a panel that afternoon focusing on the ubiquitous topic of Web 2.0, smaller online communities that didn't exist at this time last year are already making major impact."

Social-networking hubs such as the consumer-written restaurant reviews of Yelp, and Dogster, a canine-centric version of Friendster, are helping define the new movement by staying out of their users way and letting them provide editorial content. It's not about the technology. It's about making the kind of site that allows users to talk with friends," Mr. deSouza said.

What will keep the sites relevant, said co-panelist Charles Buchwalter, senior VP-industry solutions at Nielsen/NetRatings, is continuously surveying users.

Posted on December 18, 2006
Permalink

« First  <  3 4 5 6 7 >  Last »