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Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

Track Brand Mentions on the Social Web with SocialSeek, ViralHeat, PeopleBrowsr and More

The company that builds the perfect tool to track brand mentions across the social Web will become a billionaire.  Unfortunately, that person or company has not yet launched that tool, but every brand and marketing manager anxiously awaits its arrival.  Until then, SocialSeek by Sensidea is getting a bit of buzz for allowing some useful tracking of brand mentions on social media sites like Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Blogger and more.  Tracking can even be done on a city level, so there is value in terms of demographic segmentation and regional marketing and branding strategy development.

SocialSeek is free, and it’s important to remember that it’s far from perfect.  However, with no perfect tool available to track brand mentions on the social Web, any tool that can add to the data you collect can be helpful and should be researched and tested.  Just keep in mind that the information should be exploratory in nature because it’s not going to be completely accurate.

There are several tools online that help companies track brand mentions online  They come with a variety of pricetags and functionalities and again, none are perfect.  Take a look at the sites below, research and test them, and find the best mix for your company and brand.

What tools have you found that help track brand mentions across the social Web?  Leave a comment and share your recommendations.

Disney Takes Online Advertising Effectiveness Research to Extremes

walt disney world: cinderella castleAccording to an article on the Brand Republic, Disney has been going to extremes to try to find out what works in online advertising.  Disney’s extreme research involves eye tracking, heart monitoring, skin temperature readings and facial probes.  A big ‘reveal’ is scheduled for later this year in New York where 200 big name advertisers are said to be preparing to be enlightened by Disney.

Truth be told, I found this report to be amusing, and apparently, I’m not alone in that feeling.  The first comment on the article on the Brand Republic website is from a person who shares the same feeling that I have about Disney’s website — it’s a useless mess that is cumbersome to navigate and impossible to find useful information on once you finally get past the neverending supply of animation and gobbledygook.  It seems to me Disney is putting the cart before the horse with this research.  Let’s face it, most online advertising drives consumers to the advertiser’s website.  What happens if your website stinks?  Disney needs to take a step back and focus on fixing the online face of its brand before it tries to crack the elusive online advertising code.

I also found Brand Republic’s reference to a comment from Tracey Scheppach, video innovations director for Starcom MediaVest Group who claimed to the New York Times that Disney’s research is “completely invaluable. … Everybody is trying to figure out the ad models of the future, but nobody is doing is on this scale.” [Read more…] about Disney Takes Online Advertising Effectiveness Research to Extremes

Nissan – A Lesson in Creating a Brand Image, Message and Promise

Hats off to the ad campaign pictured below from Nissan, which provides an excellent example of how a few words of copy can create a complete brand image, message and promise.

Take a look at the first ad in the campaign below. In just 11 words and with a great black and white image, the audience relates the Nissan brand to owning a dream.

nissan-dream

The second example below is equally powerful.  In just 9 words, the audience relates the Nissan brand to freedom and escape.

nissan-getaway

And my favorite ad is below.  In 12 simple words, the Nissan brand means inspiration.

nissan-inspire

With the simple tagline, “The Joy of Driving”, accompanying each ad, Nissan means so much more than just a car.

Can you make your brand mean more than the tangible product or service it provides?  It’s a powerful accomplishment.  Kudos to TBWA Toronto for a great campaign.

Images via AdsoftheWorld.com

Brands Spending More Than Ever on Word-of-Mouth Marketing

word-of-mouth-marketing-reportThere is no doubt that word-of-mouth marketing on the social web can have a significant effect on a brand.  That effect has not gone unnoticed and according to a new report from PQ Media with the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), brand spending on word of mouth marketing in 2008 grew by 14.2% to $1.54 billion.  The growth is expected to slow to 10.2% in 2009, but that’s still a strong double-digit growth rate.  Clearly, word of mouth marketing is taking a chunk out of some other traditional marketing tactics.

It’s important to understand that word of mouth marketing spending still only comprises a small fraction of overall brand marketing spending, but it also represents a shift in marketing investments that is not likely to stop growing anytime soon.  Connecting with consumers on websites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter is the low hanging fruit that every brand manager wants to pick but still hasn’t found the way to detach from the branch.  That makes the shift in marketing investment from traditional tactics to online word of mouth marketing a scary one, and that’s a risk that many executives still aren’t prepared to make.  It’s a shame really.  The opportunities are so great.

With the growing importance of word of mouth marketing, consultants are reaping the rewards.  In fact, PQ Media reports that the word of mouth business grew by 18.7% in 2008 to $197 million.  There are even awards and recognition for word of mouth marketing campaigns like the WOMMY Awards.

Interest in word of mouth marketing is coming from all sides these days.  It’s not surprising.  Consumers are tired of being spoken at and want to be spoken to.  With the economic client failing them, they have lost trust in brands and look to people they know more so than ads and traditional marketing tactics to get information and make purchase decisions.  The only question brand managers and executives should be asking themselves is how much can we invest in word of mouth marketing this year?  If they’re still wondering if they should invest in word of mouth marketing at all, then they’re in trouble.

Your thoughts?

Image: PQ Media

A Branding Debate from the Swiss Army Knife

swiss-army-knifeI read an interesting article on the BBC website this week about the history of the Swiss Army Knife.  Here’s a product that started 125 years ago from humble beginnings and grew into an iconic product.  It could be argued that the term “Swiss Army Knife” has become generic to mean any kind of pocket knife — similar to how Kleenex and Band-aid have become generic terms.  But how did a simple pocket knife become so ingrained into cultures around the world?  And how can your brand achieve similar success?

There are actually two valid arguments — one for and one against — building a brand into a generic term for a product or category.  First, the pro side — a brand that becomes a generic equivalent for a product or category holds tremendous value as it’s the brand thought of first and always.  Next, the argument against — a brand that becomes a generic equivalent for a product or category loses value by becoming more of a commodity that is easily interchangeable with other brands which offer the same benefits to consumers.

So which side of the debate are you on?  Certainly, a brand like Band-aid reaped the rewards from its “generic” status for many years, and today, brands like Google are becoming generic terms (“you can Google it”) that competitors are blatantly trying to counter (e.g., Microsoft’s Bing — have you heard anyone say, “you can Bing it” yet?  Microsoft hopes you will).  I think the value of a brand becoming the generic term for a product, category or action (as in Google’s case) outweighs the longer term negatives of commoditization.

However, the problem is less in commoditization than it is in retaining a brand’s position once it becomes a generic term.  I think once a brand becomes the generic term for a product or category, the powers that be become lazy and sit back to enjoy the ride as the leader having cornered the market, so to speak.  There is the inevitable comfort that being the leader that no one can touch creates within the ranks.  That’s the danger.  Consumers move quickly these days, and a brand that becomes a generic term for a product or category must stay on its toes to continue leading the way and earning consumers’ trust and choice.

What do you think?  Is having your brand become a generic term for a product or category a win or a problem?

Image: Flickr