Do we have an obligation to Like?

Every survey that I’ve seen in the past five+ years talking about sources of consumer trust always show recommendations from a friend as the highest rated. Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages report is the latest, finding that 84% of respondents across 58 countries rate word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family as the …

Astroturf grows in strange places

  “Agreements were reached with a charter bus operator, a teeth-whitening service, a laser hair-removal chain and an adult entertainment club…dentists, lawyers and an ultra-sound clinic had all commissioned fake reviews.” — “Fake online reviews crackdown in New York sees 19 companies fined,” The Guardian, 23 September 2013. One of the biggest problems with online …

Guest post: @jackiehuba on Monster Loyalty

The post below is from my friend Jackie Huba. Her third book, “Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics” publishes on May 2nd and is available now for pre-order.


 

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I love the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was born near Pittsburgh and watched them win 4 four Super Bowls as I was growing up in the ’70’s. I run the Steelers fan club here in Austin. I own six Terrible Towels and went to the Super Bowl in 2011 to see the Steelers play. When I was considering getting a tattoo — almost all Austin, Texas residents have one — I knew getting the Steelers logo was a safe bet because I knew I would love them for life.

Nielsen: “Our influencers, Ourselves”

Kate Niederhoffer, Director of Measurement Science at Nielsen Online spoke about a current work in progress – defining "influentials."  Is there a hotter topic in CGM for marketers?  Well yes, ROI, but we’re closer to figuring this one out, or at least more people are trying. Kate gave an academic explanation of the history of …

Free WOM webinar with Umbria – Nov 7

I’m delivering a free webinar with Umbria CEO Janet Eden-Harris on word of mouth marketing and brand monitoring.  It’s scheduled for Wednesday November 7th at 3 pm Eastern. We’ll be talking about taking a left-brain approach to making WOM work.  More potential takeaways: Learn not only what is being said, but who is doing the …

iPhone: advertising and brand monitoring

The iPhone goes on sale today, which you probably knew.  Do you remember seeing any ads for it?  TV?  Print?  Banners? I’ve seen some paid keywords on Google.  Given the amount of buzz, hype, anticipation around the launch – why even bother?  (unless you’re marketing Blackberries.) Today I got an email with the image at …

Behind The Chicken with Barbarian Group

At the IHAF spring meeting on Friday, Rick Webb from Barbarian Group spoke about creativity.  If you didn’t know, this is the company that built Subservient Chicken.  Two of Rick’s favorite commands:  "build a tent" and "make a sandwich". Also, check out some free stuff from Barbarian:  magnetosphere, an iTunes visualiser; and grass, an interactive …

Research Agency CEOs at ARF re:think

The second day of the ARF’s re:think conference opened with a panels research agency executives, called "The Research Agency of the Future" with the CEOs of GfK, Kantar, TNS and Nielsen.  Moderator Jim Figura of Colgate-Palmolive said it should have been called "Insights Agency of the Future." Most of what these CEOs had to say …