Customer Listening Blog

Emetrics San Francisco Conference: Impressions

I was at the emetrics conference last week in San Francisco, crmmetrix was indeeed a bronze sponsor and I must say that the conference was really good for us.

First and foremost, clearly continuous listening on websites is really taking off and very encouragingly for us, our postionning around the 6 Dimensions of Website Effectiveness goes a long way to both differentiate ourselves from competition (that mainly and only focus on measuring satisfaction) and get client attention and interest. This was cleraly and nicely supported during Tim Goudie keynote speech on the wednesday. Tim is Group Manager, Interactive Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company and largely mentioned our work to support the Coca-Cola Company to measure and manager the ROI of Interactive efforts (with SiteCRM).

Obviously the conference will not be a success if the people that make the web analytics space were not engaging, passionated, entertaining and fun to hang out with. This is exactly the type of people we had teh chance to meet with at the conference. So congratulations to Jim Sterne and the organizers at large, and see you soo!

technorati tags: emetrics sitecrm tim goudie 6 dimensions website effectiveness crmmetrix

'FACE-UP TO CLIMATE CHANGE', CONSUMERS TELL BRANDS

Brands have a play indeed, and green products certainly get high consideration from consumers, the question now is how much consumers are ready to pay and actually buy green products specifically in a slowing economy where available money is key to households.

To get a copy of the full report:  climate.changemedia@havasmedia.com

LONDON: Consumers are calling on brands to take responsibility for reducing the impact of climate change as governments fail to make progress on the critical issue, according to a major global study published today (Monday) by Havas Media. 

Claimed to be the largest survey yet of consumer response to climate change, over 11,000 respondents were interviewed in Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Spain, UK and US.

It highlights both local and global characteristics that develop current theories on a range of widely-debated issues. But the message that comes across loud, clear and unequivocal is that consumers place the onus for action firmly on brands.

Among the study's key findings  ...

• Consumers are calling on brands to lead the charge in finding solutions for climate change.
• Although climate change is a major global issue, significant divisions emerge in popular attitudes at local levels.
• 79% of consumers would rather buy from companies doing their best to reduce their impact on the environment – a characteristic most marked in China and Brazil, but least in the UK and US.
• 74% of consumers feel they can actively contribute to solving climate change – this figure is higher in developing countries, but lower in developed countries.
• Only 11% of respondents 'strongly feel' their respective government is doing enough to tackle climate change.
• Consumers will pay a premium. Seventy-nine per cent of consumers said they would rather buy from companies doing their best to reduce their impact on the environment.
• Further, 89% are likely to buy more green goods in the next twelve months and 35% are willing to pay a premium for those goods.
• When it comes to actually buying green, 80% of respondents said they would buy more if more were on offer.

The report concludes that companies should not make the mistake of confusing loyalty with a lack of consumer choice.

In two-thirds of the markets researched (UK, US, Mexico, Brazil, Germany and France) people felt more strongly that companies and their brands should be finding solutions compared to the government. 

The research paints a picture of a world that has given up on its elected leaders' abilities to combat the problem, with only 11% of all respondents 'agreeing strongly' that their governments are doing enough to arrest climate change. 

According to Havas, this leadership vacuum presents a clear opportunity for companies and their brands to step in and take a wider role in addressing climate change.

All markets express a clear desire to see more ecologically responsible brands and believe multinationals can, and should, make a positive impact on the issue.

The study will become the core of a group-wide forum via which Havas Media aims to help its clients and employees develop a deeper understanding of the inevitable impact of the climate change movement on consumer purchasing habits.

A copy of the full report can be obtained via email request to  climate.changemedia@havasmedia.com

Data sourced from Havas Media; additional content by WARC staff, 12 May 2008

Séminaire IREP 3 Juin: De la convergence des médias jusqu'à l'acte d'achat

Nous serons présents au séminaire de l'IREP le 3 Juin 2008 et animeront une tribune sur l'importance stratégique du site Internet de marketing comme "hub marketing". Nous illustrerons nos propos avec des retours d'expériences issus de la solution de mesure des sites SiteCRM et de sa base de données normative.

Le site Internet de marque: véritable "hub marketing"

Pour accéder au programme: Téléchargement IREP-CONVERGENCE-03_06.pdf

technorati tags: sitecrm crmmetrix seminaire irep 2008

US ECONOMISTS SAY COUNTRY IS IN RECESSION

Let's be positive... let's get the market back! "We are the market"... :)

MCLEAN, Virginia: Some two-thirds of economists think the US economy is in a recession, a total that rises to 79% when expanded to include those who believe this will be the case at some point in 2008, according to USA Today's latest quarterly survey.

Most of the 52 economists taking part in the study, however, agreed that any downturn will most likely be "short and shallow", and a few argued that while the economy is slackening, it will fall short of a full-blown recession.

In general, they also predicted that US GDP will fall by 0.5% in the second quarter of 2008, and that the rate of inflation will also decline over the course of the year as the economy slows.

Other major issues highlighted in the survey include the potential increase in the price of food and oil, as well as the ongoing real estate crisis.

David Berson, chief economist for the PMI Group, warned: "Given the drop in home prices, there's a big risk that foreclosures will go up more than expected."

Unemployment, however, is predicted to average out at around 6% – a figure which Berson argues is "pretty low for a recession" – while a slowing demand for goods and services is also expected to help keep prices down.

Data sourced from USA Today.com; additional content by WARC staff, 30 April 2008

US E-TAIL SALES PREDICTED TO SOAR BY 17% IN 2008

NEW YORK: Cocking a snoot at the recession-beset US economy, internet shopping spend is predicted to rise this year by a healthy 17%, according to Forrester Research's survey for Shop.org, the online arm of the National Retail Federation,

Excluding travel purchases, retail sales online in 2008 are set to grow to $204 billion (€129.82bn; £102.74bn) from $174.5bn last year, fueled by sales of apparel, computers and autos.

Although forecast growth lags last year's 21% increase, NRF officials attribute it to the maturing of the business, not the sluggish economy. E-commerce "is clearly the bright spot in retailing," says Shop.org executive director Scott Silverman.

Data sourced from Business Week (online) /Associated Press; additional content by WARC staff, 09 April 2008

From BroadBand to "BIG Band"...the Internet revolution is still under way...

GENEVA: Scientists at CERN– the world's biggest particle physics laboratory, where Tim Berners-Lee (pictured) originally conceived the internet – claim to have produced a computer system that operates at 10,000 times the speed of a normal broadband connection, and which could “revolutionise” modern communications.

The centre's new “grid” will be switched on later this year after seven years of development, and the long-term communications benefits could include making high-definition video calls for the current price of a landline phone call, and the ability to download full-length movies in seconds.

The breakthrough is an offshoot of CERN's particle physics experiment – due to begin later this year in an attempt to replicate the Big Bang – which is capable of producing so much annual data that it would cause an online collapse.

Instead Cern has come up with "the grid" – a "parallel internet" which will capture data from the experiment using fibre optic cables, and have 200,000 servers spread across the world, including in the US, UK, Middle East and Canada, operating within the next two years.

It is not expected to be offered to domestic internet users, but telecoms companies are already adopting elements of its technology. In the future the technology will be made available to academics including astronomers and molecular biologists.

Says the project's technical director, Professor Tony Doyle: “Holographic video conferencing is not that far away. Online gaming could evolve to include many thousands of people, and social networking could become the main way we communicate”.

“The history of the internet shows you cannot predict its real impacts, but we know they will be huge”.

Data sourced from The Times (UK); additional content by WARC staff , 09 April 2008

Internet Is gaining impact, Traditional media work "better" in growing economies/regions

LONDON: In what is claimed to be the most extensive project yet undertaken to identify the brand-supportive power of individual consumer contact points, ZenithOptimedia on Tuesday unveiled the first public results of its Touchpoints ROI tracker.

Based on over 300,000 consumer interviews across thirty-four countries covering more than 4,000 brands, Touchpoint results offer marketers a claimed first-time opportunity to compare the power of all major communications channels across a variety of consumer groups, brand categories and regions.

It identifies and quantifies the value of every point of contact for a category and its brands, examining the role of each contact point in building brand preference and purchase intent.

All forms of consumer contact are measured from mass media to one-to-one, word of mouth, sponsorship, events and the internet.

A snapshot of the Touchpoints database predictably reveals the growing power of the internet as a key marketing vehicle. More surprising it also reveals that the influence of internet marketing grows as consumers get older.

Similarly, ZO's research underscores the power of word of mouth, showing that recommendations from friends and families have the greatest influence on brand choice of all Touchpoints - on average 22% higher than TV advertising.

On a regional basis, the influence of marketing contacts and the level of overall brand recall is much higher in Asia Pacific than in North America or Europe.

For example, TV advertising is 20% more influential in Asia Pacific than in North America and internet banners are 30% more influential in Asia Pacific than in Europe.

Zenith also claims that the survey doesn't only identify the brand-supportive power of individual Touchpoints, it also reveals how much harder some of these can work in combination - key knowledge when planning integrated communications.

Touchpoints has already been harnessed by a number of major marketers, among them HP, Lloyds TSB and Verizon.

Data sourced from ZenithOptimedia (UK); additional content by WARC staff, 09 April 2008

INTEGRATED MARKETING TOPS US ADVERTISERS' PRIORITY LIST FOR 2008

NEW YORK: The issue on which most senior US marketers are focused right now is not the global credit crunch or America's flagging economy but getting to grips with integrated marketing communications, the Association of National Advertisers reports.

In an annual survey of members designed to shape the organization's annual fall conference, integrated marketing communications topped senior marketers priority list for the second successive year.

Runners-up in the priority stakes were marketing accountability and aligning the marketing organization with innovation – in that order.

These are the ten top-ranked issues  ...

1. Integrated marketing communications.
2. Marketing accountability.
3. Aligning marketing organization with innovation.
4. Brand building.
5. Media proliferation.
6. Advertising creative that achieves business results.
7. Consumer control over what and how they view advertising.
8. Attracting and retaining top talent.
9. Globalization of marketing efforts.
10. Multicultural marketing.

Says ANA president/ceo Bob Liodice: "The survey findings confirm that integrated marketing is one of the foundational pillars the ANA believes are critical to create a transformed marketing environment."

The rankings are based on responses from 157 member organizations and – by a fortunate stroke of coincidence – the theme of the ANA's next member conference on May 29 is ... Integrated Marketing.

Data sourced from Association of National Advertisers (USA); additional content by WARC staff, 09 April 2008

UK ONLINE AD REVENUES PREDICTED TO OVERTAKE TV IN 2009

Data sourced from BBC Online (UK); additional content by WARC staff, 09 April 2008

LONDON: The Internet Advertising Bureau's hype machine accelerated to warp speed on Tuesday, its latest report suggesting that UK internet advertising revenues will overtake television some time next year.

Rah-rah aside, this is not entirely improbable given the ongoing decline of TV audiences and the rise and rise of internet usage, accelerated in the UK by the near-universality of broadband, faster download speeds, and the plummeting price of laptops.

Moreover, figures recently published by the UK Advertising Association also suggest that online ad growth – if maintained –  could propel the medium to the top of the pile next year.

According to data produced for the IAB by PricewaterhouseCoopers, online grew 38% overall in 2007 to £2.8 billion ($5.56bn; €3.54bn), accounting for 15.3% of the nation's adspend and making it the third largest medium after press display and TV

The sterling value of all online formats continued to grow with display ad revenues, including banners and video, rising 31% last year.

Comments IAB UK chief executive Guy Phillipson: "To grow 38% from £2bn [in 2006] to £2.8bn is a very powerful performance."

There are a number of additional factors contributing to the rise and rise of web advertising, among them  the growing appeal of social networking sites and catch-up TV, such as that offered by the BBCiPlayer.

Classified web advertising saw a 54% year-on-year leap to  £585.3m in 2007, recruitment firms leading the pack with 25.7% market share. Automotive ads followed with 11.9%, and technology surpassed finance for the first time to seize third place.

Readers between-the-lines will note the IAB report's comment that the market for paid-for search ads is "not slowing but maturing" – whatever that may mean. It also suggests that marketers have become more sophisticated in the way they use the medium.

"Brands are now using search more intelligently, getting a greater return on investment through 'key phrases' and more accurate targeting that reflects consumer behaviour," the report concludes.

However, IAB offers no data on RoI to support that contention.

Crmmetrix Sponsor of the eMetrics conference - San Francisco - May 4-7 2008 -

Come and meet us face to face at the eMetrics conference - San Francisco - May 4-7 2008.

We will have a booth and will be able to discuss our latest development and technology including the release of our SiteCRM 6 dimensions website effectiveness solution. Come and meet us face to face!

For more information, to register for the eMetrcis conference

technorati tags: emetrics conference san francisco SiteCRM 6 dimensions crmmetrix website ROI website satisfaction web analytics

Crmmetrix to speak at Marketing 2.0 Conference: Paris 5/6 May 2008

Come and meet us as we will be speaking at the Marketing 2.0 Conference to be held in Paris at ESCP-EAP Business School on May 5/6 2008.

The Marketing 2.0 Conference brings the intelligence, innovation, and leadership of the Marketing, Media and Internet industry together in one place at one time to learn from best practices and the successful use of the new marketing tools like Social Networks, Mobile Marketing, Internet TV and Video as well as Word-of-Mouth Marketing. The Summit is known for its interactive format, stressing interaction and participation on both sides: the speakers and the audience. Through insightful plenary sessions, cut-through-the-hype onstage conversations, and "show me" presentations as well as in-depth workshops, visionaries and executives, experts and researchers from the Marketing and Internet businesses will come together to explore and present their unique insights in how to use the whole new collection of marketing tools and how brand marketers could benefit from it.

For More Information and to Regsiter: Marketing2.0 Conference

technorati tags: marketing 2.0 conference crmmetrix escp-eap

The ARF Announces Its 2008 Great Mind Awards Winners at Annual Re:think Conference and Expo in New York

Congratulations to the winners and to John Hallward specifically from Ipsos-ASI the grand winner of the ARF 2008 Innovation Award.

Last but not least, thank you to the ARF for the great minds award initiative, and obviously thank you for the certificate award I received.

APRIL 3, 2008

The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) today announced recipients of the ARF 2008 Great Mind Awards at a special luncheon session during its annual Re:think conference and exhibition, being held this week at the Marriot Marquis Hotel in New York City.   Sponsored by Harris Interactive, the ARF Great Mind Awards honor research innovation, rising research stars and important member contributions to the field, and recognize individuals who bring excellence to and advance the art and science of advertising research.

"I think our Great Mind Awards are extremely valuable to our industry and long overdue," stated Bob Barocci, President and CEO, The ARF).  "Too many research people toil in quiet," he added," and it is time to reward their important contributions publicly."

The ARF 2008 Great Mind Awards were announced in the following categories:

INNOVATION

This award was presented to the following individuals who have developed innovative research ideas – methodology, theory, service and solution.

Grand Winner 

John Hallward – Ipsos-ASI

Winners

Gold – John Kearon – BrainJuicer
Silver – Ali Moiz – Peanut Labs
Silver – Simon Davies – M:30
Bronze – Helen Katz – Starcom MediaVest Group
Bronze – Sandy Eubank – OMD

Certificate of Recognition Winners

Laurent Flores – CRM Metrix
Esther “E.T.” Franklin – SMG Multicultural
Ann Green – Millward Brown
Tim Kelsall – Millward Brown
Jim Kite – MediaVest
James Lamberti – comScore
Chris Maier – Dynamic Logic
Patrick Moriarty – OTX
Melissa Mullen – 20th Century Fox
George Pappachen – Dynamic Logic
Amy Shea – Brand Keys
Dan Stubbs – MediaVest
Radha Subramanyam – The N/Nick
Brian Wahlberg – Research International
Kirk Ward – Research International

RISING STAR

This award was given to the following researchers who have less than 7 years experience, and whose contributions during the last year marked the individual as a researcher with potential for future greatness.

Grand Winner 

Lisa Cavanaugh - GfK

Winners

Gold – Luiz Duarte – Tivo, Inc.
Silver – Jody Ayers – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Bronze – Todd Kirby – Spark Communications

Certificate of Recognition Winners

Ashmeed Ali – OTX
Laura Bernstein – IAG Research
Heather Evans – Keller Fay Group
Katherine Laine – Research International
Kara Manatt – Dynamic Logic
Surag Patel – comScore
Jake Raroque – comScore
Pixie Seth – Horizon Media
Dan Stubbs - MediaVest

RECOGNITION

Awarded to individuals who made an outstanding contribution to the ARF in the prior year. From above-and-beyond duty to providing pro-bono services, these are members who have made significant contributions to the success of the ARF and the industry.

Lifetime Achievement Winners

Erwin Ephron – Ephron Consultancy
Tim Brooks – Lifetime TV

Winners

Artie Bulgrin – ESPN
Burtch Drake – AAAA
Dr. Tom Evans – ESPN
Steve Fredericks – TNS
Bill Harvey – TRA
Jack Loftus - Nielsen
Kathi Love – MRI
Brian McAndrews – aQuantive
Jessica Pantanini – Bromley
Marissa Sison - GfK
Jack Wakshlag – Turner
Phyllis Woolley Roy – Genentech

Certificate of Recognition Winners

Paul McClean – Millward Brown
Debbie Solomon – MindShare

---

Media Contact
Advertising Research Foundation
Barry Schwartz
212-677-8700 Ext 18
barry@schwartzpr.com

Marketers must ‘observe and listen’ to consumers...

Finally, the world and consultants start to see and diffuse what I preached over 7 years ago... Observe & Listen to Consumers...

Article Author: James Verrinder

Booz Allen/ANA study highlights importance of consumer insight

US-- A report by consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton and the Association of National Advertisers has urged marketers to expand their customer insight capabilities to adapt to the increasingly complex world of digital media.

It flags deeper insights as “critical” in helping marketers make sense of all the media fragmentation, new technologies, personalisation and consumer power they face in a more digitalised media environment.

Gabriel Chahine, vice president at Booz Allen, said: “To understand a consumer, the key is to listen and to observe. This is what drives consumer insights. Eighty per cent of marketers in this study said that consumer insights are more important now than they were five years ago, and that will become even more important in the future as media becomes increasingly digital.”

More than 250 marketers, including 75 industry leaders ranging from operational marketers to CMOs and CEOs, were surveyed for the Marketing Media and Ecosystem 2008 study.

Laurent Flores & crmmetrix finalist to receive the ARF Innovation Award

ARF Innovation Award

For Development of the Most Innovative Research Idea

This award will be given to the individual that has developed the most innovative research idea – methodology, theory, service, and solution. The award will be given at the ARF Annual event on April 2nd 2008 in NY.

I have the honor to be nominated along with innovative industry colleagues:

Simon Davies – M:30
Sandy Eubank - OMD
Laurent Flores – CRM Metrix
Esther “E.T” Franklin – SMG Multicultural
Ann Green – Millward Brown
John Hallward – Ipsos-ASI
Helen Katz – Starcom MediaVest Group
John Kearon – BrainJuicer
Tim Kelsall – Millward Brown
Jim Kite – MediaVest
James Lamberti – comScore
Chris Maier – Dynamic Logic
Ali Moiz – Peanut Labs
Patrick Moriarty – OTX
Melissa Mullen – 20th Century Fox
George Pappachen – Dynamic Logic
Amy Shea – Brand Keys
Dan Stubbs – MediaVest
Radha Subramanyam – The N/Nick
Brian Wahlberg – Research International
Kirk Ward – Research International

technorati tags: laurent flores crmmetrix crm metrix branddelphi arf innovation award

Crowdsourcing gains traction and credibility

MENG sees marketing executives tapping consumer collaboration for product ideas

US-- Top marketing executives are increasingly looking outward to consumers for new product ideas, a study claims.

In the survey, conducted in December last year by the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), 62% of senior marketing executives questioned rated ‘crowdsourcing’ and customer collaboration as effective or highly effective approaches to new product and service development.

This is compared to 73% who said the same for internal R&D staff, 63% for employee ideas and contributions, and 54% for traditional consulting and professional services firms.

Crowdsourcing – the practice of making open calls to large groups of people to generate ideas, solve problems or spread the work of large-scale tasks – has taken off in recent years thanks to web 2.0 technologies.

Steve Fisher, who coordinated the survey for MENG, said: “Corporate executives should seek to explore ways to leverage their employees, customers and consumers not only for new product and service development, but also for channel management and customer satisfaction.”

technorati tags: crowdsourcing crmmetrix customer listening Virtual Boardroom VirtualBoardroom

Crmmetrix to speak at 2008 European Effective Communications Symposium

Please come and meet us at 2008 European Effective Communications Symposium to be held in Barcelona on April 23rd.

During this conference we will share the latest evidence on the importance and central role of the brand website for marketing effectiveness. The speech is entitled, Your brand website: a "marketing hub" to expand the brand.

Please come and join us in Barcelona, details about the conference are available here: http://www.asi.eu.com/

technorati tags: crmmetrix sitecrm brand website roi website metrics asi symposium

Influentials are dead?

An interesting article opposing views of Duncan Watts and Malcom Gladwell.

My personal take out in general, everyone matters as long as you matter to them!!! Too many times, marketers believe they are in the driving seat... you only are if you have a great product and offer something that matters to people...then you can "infect" the influentials, diffusion will only happen faster, desease will still spread with other average Joes as well of course, people matter about good things... Marketers are probably too average in what they do: 80% of new products fails every year, why because they do not serve consumer needs exactly teh way they want... This is where beyond influence what matters right away from the beginning is collaboration with the kind of consumers that both know and have ideas, and are also able to spread...We work with these type of consumers in our collaboration communities (Virtual Boardroom), those consumers are both Lead Users and Opinion Leaders. Ping me if you want to know more...

Is the Tipping Point Toast? (article from Fast Company)

technorati tags: ducan watts Malcom Gladwell Influentials crmmetrix Laurent Flores Virtual Boadroom

Second Life: Buzz Down!

A prospective client called me today asking me what I though about Second Life, I clearly said that it got a lot of buzz, less so now, but as I said in the past, I was suspicious (specifically when you want to develop awareness for example). I am not implying that it is not interesting to develop new experiences and test new things, but I think it is limited in reach and not as buzzable as it used to be...

Then I went to Google Trends and checked the "second life" key word popularity and clearly the buzz is down. This is directly in line with the slowing number of registered avatars and the feeling of lower overall media buzz. Judge for yoursefl, this is the case case in general and specifically in France, like if the buzz was driven by the French presidential election last year...and since then nothing...

This is the overall Global Trend Request

Thiis is the overall requet for "second life" in France...

What a decline!

technorati tags: second life buzz crmmetrix laurent flores

La Participation web 2.0... à la SNCF : un effet buzz certain

Il y a quelques jours j'avais signalé, salué l'initiative de la SNCF et son site debat participatif... je disais que l'initiative était une action de communication intéressante qui à minima fera du buzz... c'est le cas, même si il semble que la participation est encourageante. Voir à ce sujet un article des echos de Capucine Cousin en date du 31 Janvier 2008... j'y suis cité, et insiste encore une fois sur le besoin de continuité pour pérenniser l'initiative de la SNCF... Clairement à suivre!

Téléchargement les_echos_31_01_08.pdf

Téléchargement les_echos_31_01_08_2.pdf

technorati tags: crmmetrix laurent flores sncf feedback 2.0 publicis

Le commerce équitable touche près d'un quart des ménages français

planète, qui sont les plus concernés : 45% d'entre eux ont acheté au moins un produit issu du commerce équitable au cours de l'année, viennent ensuite les consommateurs hédonistes et les réfractaires. L'intérêt pour ce commerce est corrélé au pouvoir d'achat : 32% des foyers les plus aisés ont acheté au moins un produit du Commerce Équitable sur ces 12 derniers mois, pour un budget d'environ 17 euros, contre 13 % des foyers les plus modestes (budget 15 euros). Les produits alimentaires issus du Commerce Équitable

En France, les produits cosmétiques issus du commerce équitable commencent à se développer, ils représentent 11% en valeur des catégories de produits issus du commerce équitable les plus consommés par les foyers français (4ème place). Parmi les enseignes, c'est Monoprix qui comprend dans sa clientèle le plus grand nombre de foyers acheteurs de produits de Commerce Équitable (14%), devant Auchan (13%) et d'autre part il fidélise le mieux sa clientèle sur ce marché. La clientèle de Monoprix consacre 23% de ses dépenses à ce type de produits, contre 8% pour celle d'Auchan. D'autres circuits de distribution se développent également : VPC, magasins spécialisés dans les produits biologiques (Biocoop, La Vie Claire, Naturalia, Les Nouveaux Robinsons,…), ou diététiques et des "réseaux équitables" ou associations (Artisans du Monde et Artisanat-SEL).

Source: emarketing.fr