Three key applications for brand monitoring

I just had another piece of Forrester research publish - this one on brand monitoring.  Lest you think I went on a Kerouac-ian benzedrine + caffeine writing tear...I didn't (but what's the frequency, Kenneth?).

As you may know, I've been following the brand monitoring market for a couple of years and since publishing the Q3 2006 Forrester Wave on the space, it's clear that the market has shifted.  That's why I plan on updating the Wave in Q3 2008.

In the meantime - it's clear that not all brand monitoring firms are created equally or should be used for the same purposes.  But marketers who don't work to understand the differences before sending out an RFP or running a pilot are in essence using Plinko as their selection process.

I believe that three primary applications of brand monitoring have started to surface, based on buyer goals, vendor capabilities and intent, and business needs.  Clients can read the full research, "New Uses For Brand Monitoring," which explains how and why the three applications matter.  The summary:

J.D. Power and Associates acquired brand monitoring firm Umbria, combining industry-focused consumer satisfaction and rankings with consumer-generated media (CGM) insights. The deal highlights the use of brand monitoring as a key input to formulating marketing, brand, and product strategy. Interactive marketers and social media strategists interested in using brand monitoring must choose a tool based on business objectives, recognizing that the market now addresses three distinct applications: 1) mining customer insight to formulate strategy; 2) quantifying social media to compare with other metrics; and 3) identifying influencers in order to participate in online conversations.

Much deeper analysis forthcoming later this year.  In the meantime, Forrester clients - feel free to set up an inquiry via your account manager to learn more.

P.S. I think our Forrester Marketing Blog Feedback Survey is still open...

Comments

[Markus Hübner]

I wonder in what way freely available brand monitoring tools like www.blogpulse.com will evolve. Any news on that?

[Max Kalehoff]

Pete,
Great summary! But you forgot the critical #4 to close the loop: 4) Customer service, experience and loyalty. This final phase is more operational, but leads back into your first application of strategy formulation -- to complete the cycle.

But then there's a separate category...strategic analysis of brand monitoring. For example, where do you go to for help on integrating consumer-generated media metrics into your a brand's econometric media models? You might go to Nielsen BuzzMetrics for that, but you certainly wouldn't go to most others. I'm not talking about deriving metrics to compare...I'm talking about actually comparing the metrics once you have them.

Then there's another separate category -- one where many of the brand monitoring firms are dancing a fine line. It is called planning, and in some cases it can even bleed into action. Influencer ID is one aspect of it, but only one of many.

Good luck with your next wave!
Max

[Tom]

Hi Peter:

Good post - and I (a vendor) heartily agree. When someone asks me to compete for business - I always ask for the list of competitors. If it is all dashboard vendors - and the questions are tech/dashboard focused, then I know it isn't for us.

We are still in an educational mode on this issue - but people are getting it fast.

TO'B

[Peter Kim]

Hi Markus - that's a question better answered by Nielsen. I haven't seen Blogpulse change substantially over the past couple of years; then again, I'm not a regular user.

Tom - thanks for confirmation from the real world.

Max - the vendors who contact me about customer service applications seem to be closer to the BI space than brand monitoring. I did, however, leave out trademark/copyright infringement - systems that seem pretty close but don't have a primary social computing purpose. I think Nielsen plays in area #2 with TNS - but the services angle of the analytics...isn't that what brand monitoring isn't supposed to be? The promise of the technology was automation and efficiency, which goes away if a large percentage of value is delivered manually.

[Mike Spataro]

Amen Peter. Brands know the names of providers, but not the real differences in solutions and services. If they did, the decision on which firms best match their needs I believe would be much easier and eliminate a great deal of the trial and error process so many are going through now. It's also been a long time since I've seen the mention of Plinko in a post. I'll be watching how fast you get ranked on Google for it.