Customer Listening Blog

De la Valeur des Fans Facebook

Voilà plusieurs mois déjà que Facebook fait la une des médias et du marketing en général. Dans la communauté marketing, tant professionnelle qu’académique, nombreuses sont les conversations ayant trait aux médias sociaux et en particulier à leur impact sur nos vies personnelles et celles de « consommateurs ». Il est vrai que les chiffres sont parlants. Aujourd’hui, le temps moyen passé sur les médias sociaux (Facebook en tête loin devant Linkedin) est plus important que celui consacré aux emails (historiquement l’activité la plus populaire sur le Net). Facebook, c’est plus de 500 millions de membres au niveau mondial (dont plus de 20 millions en France), aux Etats Unis le trafic du site est passé devant celui de Google, la part des investissements publicitaires (« display ») consacrée au site ne fait que s’accélérer le positionnant loin devant les autres sites, et bien sûr la valorisation récente par JP Morgan à plus de 50 Milliards de Dollars ne fait que confirmer l’ampleur du phénomène : Oui, Facebook est vraiment incontournable.  Même si il est vrai que le français moyen passe toujours plus de temps à regarder la télévision qu’à consommer d’autres médias, de jour en jour, l’écart avec Internet et les médias sociaux diminue, en particulier auprès des jeunes. Les Gen Y ou «digital natives » sont de plus en plus connectés avec leurs « amis » online. Les marques l’on bien sûr compris, elles investissent de plus en plus les médias digitaux et les réseaux sociaux en particulier. Nombreuses sont celles qui « investissent » Facebook tant pour y faire de la publicité que pour y mettre en place une « FanPage ». Le nom lui même de ce nouveau point de contact est d’ailleurs spécialement appétant, pour une marque il suffirait d’être présent sur FaceBook pour y rassembler ses fans. Alors qu’il demeure vrai (même depuis l’ère FaceBook !) que le site de marque est un point de contact fortement valorisé par les fans d’une marque, on peut se poser la question à propos de pages de Fans FaceBook. La force et la valeur d’une marque serait-elles liées au nombre de Fans dont elle dispose sur Facebook ? Alors que le nombre de Fans est largement utilisé comme indicateur de succès des initiatives « social media »[1], une marque est-elle pour autant plus « riche » lorsque son nombre de fans est important ? Les spécialistes du marketing direct reconnaîtront dans la question la classique opposition entre quantité et qualité des contacts. En effet, tout prospect ou client n’a pas la même valeur selon son niveau d’affinité avec la marque encore avec la catégorie de produits. Un « gros acheteur », qui plus est leader d’opinion a naturellement plus de poids et donc plus de valeur pour une marque qu’un « petit acheteur » sans aucune affinité particulière à la marque. Première conclusion, le seul nombre de Fans n’a qu’une valeur relative, pleinement dépendante de la qualité des fans se rassemblant autour de la marque sur Facebook. Les premières études[2] confirment cette conclusion et démontrent que lorsque la marque met en œuvre une véritable stratégie à destination de Fans (par exemple : accès à de l’information exclusive, bons plans et avant premières, animation dans la durée, etc.), les membres recrutés sont vraiment des « fans » : plus fortement impliqués, plus leaders, plus gros acheteurs, ils sont donc une force vive au service de la marque. Dans ce cas, oui, les fans Facebook ont de la valeur, encore faut-il donc « savoir les recruter » et entretenir une relation durable avec eux. Bonne nouvelle pour les spécialistes du marketing direct, en particulier, pour ceux qui sauront justement équilibrer quantité et qualité des contacts, Marketers sur Facebook : à vous de jouer !

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[1] Le nombre de Fans est l’un des indicateurs les plus populaires pour juger de la performance des campagnes social media aux Etats Unis (Etude CMOs on Social Marketing Plans for 2011, CMO Club).

[2] Pour plus d’informations : http://fr.crmmetrix.com/produits/fanpagecrm_r 

Feedback from Esomar word of mouth measurement workshop

Last week I had the chance to run my second workshop on "word of mouth measurement and beyond" at the Esomar annual congress in Montreux (Switzerland). The first one was in Sweden earlier this year. The overall feedback seems to be really positive. With my old friend Pete Blackshaw from Nielsen Online that I invited to lead the workshop with me, we really had fun together sharing insights, views about the challenges and opportunities of measuring word of mouth.

We had a full room of nearly 20 people, all very engaged, the majority of them coming from the advertiser side, with a clear mandate: "understand word of mouth and its measurement to implement things in their companies". I really have the impression that things are coming together slowly but surely when it comes to setting up measurement systems for word of mouth in Europe. We are certainly far away from a market of $200M in the US growing 15% a year as recently reported by PQ Media, but the question becomes important enough for marketers to consider wom hot enough to start dedicating specific investment measurements. Let's see how things progress in the coming months...

Beyond word of mouth measurement, one of the key outcomes obviously is really to relate to LISTENING to consumers' conversations, this is the reason I personally started to be interested in the wom topic more than 5 years ago, a time I coined the expression "customer listening" thus the name of this blog... Things usually take more time than initially expected but It seems that things are coming slowly together. Let's see what the trend will be in Asia in 2010 where I should be running the same workshop at Esomar Asia Pacific event in April 2010. Check it out and register!   

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Présentation au Club du Marketing Client

Ce soir, mecredi 19 Novembre 2008, et suite à l'invitation de Yann Claessen d'ETO et fondateur du "Club du Marketing Client" (dont le dernier billet sur son blog est en plein avec le sujet du jour, coincidence ?), j'aurai l'occasion d'intervenir sur un thème qui m'est cher... :

Le site Internet de marque : point d'écoute capital pour engager vos meilleurs clients.

Nul doute que les experts clients de ce club tout à la fois sympathique et dynamique pourront largement contribuer et débattre sur le thème.

Si vous êtes interessés par la présentation et le white paper, demandez les ICI.

(sélectionnez le white paper: Site de Marque: Un Hub Marketing)

NB. Merci à Nathalie Lemonnier pour l'organisation de dernière minute et à Marie Estelle Carasco pour l'acceuil dans les locaux de Microsoft.

technorati tags: club du marketing client crmmetrix eto yann claessen sitecrm

Are Retailers just really discovering CRM and brand building?

I came across an interesting article title in Ad Age yestreday "The Newest Brands? Open for Business" by Jim Lucas. In this short article Jim argues that "Retailers have switiched gears, Marketing their stores and labels and strengthening bonds with shoppers".  Of course they have, I fully agree with Jim, but my though this has been really going on for a long time specifically in Europe as Jim points out,  Tesco in the UK for example is usually perceived as a CRM king to develop and maintain profitable relationship with its customers. Some Retailers, and in fact all of them now, finally realized that the biggest asset they have is that they are "touching consumers" and have an opportunity to know them more, engage them at least once a week (as Jim says in the US, the average U.S. household is making 150 to 200 store visits a year) what an opportunity to sell more than products!

A lot more can be done to offer real experiences in stores and supermarkets, the kid that will forster people relationship with store brands rather than only relying on deals, promos, coupons, etc. I am not saying they are not important, I simply think there is room for building true experiences, the ones that drive loyatly and word of mouth... However, I really think that the biggest challenge is for brands and manufacturers, it is tougher than ever to market brands (at leats in the old fashion way). In the past, pushing messages on TV and having a good product available on store will do the trick, nowadays, it is not enough any more.... What costs more is people attention. As consumers, we have less time for everything and although economic slow down is pushing people to be cost consicious, they probably also want their shopping trip to be as simple and rewarding as possible, relying more and more on other consumers' feedback and conversations (online and offline!) to shape their opinions and choices. So brands you'd better hurry to partner with retailers to shape the right experiences for end users and use every opportunity to think about your brand loyalty with a specific approach tailored to partnering with retailers beyond price...of course, retailers need to talk the same language says retailers are getting there, and eventually it is for the benefits of both brands and retailers. As Jim says in his article, they need to work toegther "It is also important for retailers and manufacturers to align business goals, including driving traffic to the store or a specific destination in the store; creating larger sales receipts, better conversion rates, solution selling and cross-selling; and improving the total shopping experience -- for example, making it easier or more engaging, entertaining, educational or inspirational to shop."

To view Jim full article on AdAge (click here)

technorati tags: retailers crm Jim Lucas AdAge Newest Brands Open for Business

P&G Taps Bloggers, Moms for Unconventional Product Launch

Word-of-Mouth, Buzz Push for Crest Weekly

I came across an interesting article and initiative described by Jack Neff , in Ad Age. What will be interesting is really to find out if it really worked...as "organic" (vs marketing amplified) word of mouth is really what make things happen... See below the full artcile:

Published: August 21, 2008

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Procter & Gamble Co. is trying something decidedly new with toothpaste: launching a product designed to be used once a week.

Crest Weekly Clean Intensive Cleaning Paste is meant to be a weekly addition to daily tooth brushing, giving a 'just-from-the-dentist,' smooth, clean feeling.

The idea, of course, isn't to get people to brush less often. Rather, Crest Weekly Clean Intensive Cleaning Paste, which is set to hit stores by mid-September, is billed as a weekly addition to people's daily tooth brushing. The goal is to provide that "just-from-the-dentist," smooth, clean feeling, as P&G and some bloggers who've gotten sneak previews of the product have put it.

Little mass-media spending
Crest, long one of P&G's biggest-spending media brands, with $236.8 million in measured media spending last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence, is also taking a fairly nontraditional marketing approach for the unconventional product, relying heavily on word-of-mouth and buzz marketing and relatively little on mass media.

P&G began sending the product to bloggers earlier this month, some of whom also have Twittered their interest in Weekly Clean. And Crest is using P&G's Vocalpoint buzz-marketing program for moms to spread the word too. It sent a survey about the product's marketing to the more than 600,000 moms in the program last week.

But the product's TV advertising will be relatively light, said spokeswoman Allison Yang, consisting mainly of five-second tags on ads for other Crest products.

The product "is not necessarily intuitive," making TV ads relatively less effective at explaining Weekly Clean, she said.

Talked-about product
"What we've seen with research with consumers is that once they've seen it, they tell everybody," Ms. Yang said, another reason for the emphasis on buzz marketing vs. conventional media.

"The feeling you get is so unique, and women especially love it," she said. "A lot of times you come out with a new toothpaste flavor, and it's not something people talk about."

The product uses silica-based crystals similar to those found in Crest Pro-Health but in higher concentrations, leaving "that incredibly smooth feeling you get when you take your tongue and slide it along the front of your teeth after visiting the dentist," Ms. Yang said.

Weekly Clean is used like regular toothpaste, though it comes in smaller tubes. Ms. Yang said P&G isn't concerned any consumers will believe they can now get away with only brushing once a week. "We're emphasizing that the product doesn't have any fluoride in it," she said. "This should not substitute for brushing in any sense."

Expanding the category
Since it's designed to be an addition to what people are doing now, Weekly Clean stands to expand the toothpaste category, but Ms. Yang declined to disclose how much P&G is expecting in year-one sales.

Interpublic Group of Cos.' Devries, New York, handles public relations for Crest, and Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi and Starcom MediaVest Group, both New York, handle advertising,and media planning and buying, respectively; Digitas, Boston, handles digital.

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Laurent Florès, keynote speaker at Australian Annual Market Research Conference, September 2008

I must say I am really thrilled to go to Australia as I will have the honor to be a keynote speaker at the AMSRS National Conference 2008 in Melbourne, Australia, September 14th-16th 2008.

My speech will be about "Listening" of course!

From asking to listening: leveraging insights from a connected world.

To get more information, visit: http://www.mrsa.com.au/

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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

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

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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)

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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!

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