While most brand marketers today are intensely focused on their social media efforts, many express frustration at the inability to quantify its value or incorporate it into their marketing mix. comScore Social Essentials is a breakthrough social measurement product that helps marketers do just that.

Have a look at the presentation below of the in-depth analysis of how social media brand impressions reach Fans and Friends throughout Facebook, as opposed to just on brand Fan pages. The study profiles three major brands – Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, and Microsoft Bing – to show the impact of these impressions on Fans and Friends and help illustrate how brands today need to be thinking about their social marketing initiatives.

Amazon is the strongest brand globally and in the U.S., at least as measured by how consumers perceive value vs. the associated costs, according to a Millward Brown “Value-D” ranking released today based on surveys of 150,000 consumers in 24 countries.

It’s the first time the unit of WPP’s Kantar Group has released the value-based ranking of brand strength, said Peter Walshe, senior director of Millward Brown.

Winners in the rankings weren’t necessarily the sexiest, fastest-growing, best known, most heavily advertised or even most universally used, Mr. Walshe said, because the rankings are all about perceived value vs. price paid.

Well-known, iconic brands such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, while among the global top 10, trailed more utilitarian brands such as Colgate (No. 2) and Procter & Gamble Co.’s Pampers (No. 4). Digital and tech high-fliers Apple and Google didn’t make the cut. Apple also didn’t make the top 10 list.

One key takeaway for marketers of brands on the list: You could probably afford to raise your prices, Mr. Walshe said. Since the score essentially measures the gap between what consumers think the brand is worth and how they think it’s priced, the higher the score, the greater the potential for raising prices and boosting profits.

Oral care seemed to do well globally and in the U.S. in value perception, with Colgate No. 2 globally and Crest No. 2 in the U.S. The Colgate-Palmolive Co. rival was also in the U.S. top 10. So as packaged-goods marketers look to raise prices this year, those are two brands where consumers might at least be willing to pony up. Via adgage

Just received an email telling me that for consumers long used to (and annoyed by) distant, inflexible and self-serving corporations, any acts of kindness by brands will be gratefully received.  Which is why you need to check out our March 2011 Trend Briefing on RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS (R.A.K.).   You can read it below.  The briefing highlights the key trend drivers, and brings you plenty of examples of ‘human’ brands, from Mars and Interflora to Heineken and P&G, who are already busy applying this trend. What will your R.A.K. be?

At the end of 2010, Harris Interactive released its first Youth EquiTrend Study in which it identified the brands with the highest equity among 8-12, 13-17, and 18-24 year olds. Compared side-by-side, the results make for some interesting reading:

“Today’s youth are not just tomorrow’s consumers; they are already consumers in their own right with their own money to spend. What companies need to remember is that if brand loyalty is built in these early years, that brand loyalty will remain for years to come,” according to Regina A. Corso, SVP, Youth and Education Research at Harris Interactive. “At this stage, the brands that resonate the most with youth are mostly ones that involve food – six of the top ten are candy, snacks or restaurants.”

Young Adults “Googley” for Technology

Though sweets and toys topped the brand equity lists for younger teens and tweens, for young adults, it’s all about tech. The ongoing Google vs. Facebook battle continues, though, among this group, Google ranks highest in brand equity, followed by Facebook. Apple’s iPod is ranked third in brand equity for young adults, followed by Gatorade and Target, ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. ”As kids age, their tastes, and therefore their favorite brands, change with them. Tweens are all about Disney and Nick as well as gaming, where teens add more technology to the mix.

For young adults the snack foods are still there, but technology takes an even stronger presence in their top ten,” according to Corso. “It’s also important to remember that youth have ways to learn about brands, as well as discuss brands, that previous generations could not have dreamed of. When marketers focus their efforts on just adults, or even just young adults, the teens and tweens take notice of that perceived snub. And, not only do they have the tools at their disposal to let their dissatisfaction with a brand be known, they are not afraid to use them.”

To read the rest of research findings visit here

Buyology Inc. has released its “first annual” list of the most desired brands in the U.S. Of interest to Thinkbigbebig Entrepreneurs readers are what the firm calls Neurotypes. These Neurotypes are used as brand profiling techniques, which uses a combination of EEG brain monitoring and eye-tracking data.

Similar to lovemarks Neurotypes™ (non-conscious relationships) quantitatively determine which of sixteen relationships a brand or business currently has for a given target audience and the relative strength of the relationship, or signal strength, relative to competitors and other, beacon brands who, although they may be outside the category, have successfully established similar relationships.

Each of the four prime Neurotypes represent a unique relationship profile based on both original global research and an extensive review of multi-disciplinary scientific literature. There is both a primary and secondary Neurotype dimension in a brand relationship that results in sixteen distinct Neurotypes shown in the chart below. Think of it as a sixteen-drawer file cabinet. Beacon brands are populated on the chart to illustrate a key brand in each Neurotype. Two hundred and forty US brands have been classified thus far and iconic brands for each profile are identified here. Another collection of 240 brands have recently been classified in Japan.

Once typed and calibrated, a marketer can use Neurotypes to assess the impact of their current marketing activities, determine what activities will be more effective in the future and gain provocative and proprietary insights on how to strengthen the brand’s relationships across the 6P framework (product, package, placement (distribution), price, promotion and positioning).

Any existing data (attitudes, usage, media consumption, etc.) that is tagged by brand can be reclassified by Neurotype. Accordingly, Buyology is working with some of the most extensive databases in the world to populate the proprietary Neurotype database with comprehensive insights; once a company knows it’s Neurotype it will instantly have access to a wealth of material guiding their behavior and performance. You can find out more at Buyology Inc.

For all those people rushing around over the next few days. We suggest you read The Santa Brand Book swiss miss calls it one of the funniest branding spoofs they’ve come across.

Download the PDF here.

A great brand name is one of the most powerful forces in branding, marketing and advertising. It makes you different from your competitors and connects you with your audience.

The most mission-critical aspect of naming a company, product or brand is to understand the brands proposed market positioning. Having researched many brands it is clear that the most successful brands are the ones that have the following traits:

1. Less than 9 letters in their name
2. Have a descriptor
3. Convey an emotion

Below is a simple way of naming a brand. In this instance we have taken the food industry as an example however the elements can be used in different industries.

The examples above all use the following

1. Speed: Fast, Quick, Rapid
2. High end Word: Gourmet, Luxury, Sophisticated, Posh
3. Food Type: Pizza, Chocolate, Hot dog, Burger
4. Venue: Bar, Cafe, Hut, lounge

By understanding what your business’s unique selling point is, eg speed one can use this within the naming process for example Pizza Express.  Your brand needs to be Functional, Economical & Emotional.  If your brand has all theses elements then you’re more likely to increase brand awareness, memory recall and purchase intent. To check out some of the worlds most superbrands

As performance marketing budgets get tighter and the battle for reach and stand out across affiliates, search, and display increase. The question still remains. Do luxury brands need social media?  The rich are unlikely to follow your company on Twitter.

According to a study by Unity Marketing, 6% of affluent users use social tools to look for coupons or go shopping, while 7% were interested in using social networks to research purchases or seek out special offers.  The study goes on to say that while at least half of affluent users view company social-media accounts, just a quarter will follow them.

So why do companies such as Cartier, Dolce & Gabbana and Mac Cosmetics bother with social media?  A few possibilities:

• Feeding the brand’s aspirational quality. If you’ve got thousands of people who can’t afford your product raving about how great you are, it increases your brand’s value as a status symbol for the handful who can afford it.

• Hook them early. Just because some of your Facebook fans can’t afford you right now doesn’t mean they’ll be window shoppers forever. If you build connections with young fans now, you’ll be in a position to recoup that good will if they become more successful. Think of it as an investment in the next generation of millionaires.
• Your competitors are already there. If you’ve got a competitor with a robust social-media presence, you owe it yourself to fight back. Stand on the sidelines and you risk seeming antiquated or stuffy. Brands might have trouble courting the wealthy using social media right now, but that may change as social media becomes more ubiquitous. Depending on your marketplace, it may make sense to keep up with a rival’s efforts just so you’re not left flat-footed in the future.

Original source: smartblogs.com

After listening to your comments and feedback, we’ve now launched a quicker, cleaner, easier to use site.

On the left and navigation you now have a easy to use categories and archives section.  We will also be adding standard ad positions for our sponsors.  As always let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment or tweeting.  Remember, this site is for you and about how you can become more knowledgeable about the ever changing and growing social, technology, business, mobile and media market space.

Have a look at what we used to look like:

VERSION 2

VERSION1

If you’re trying to build an online community for your company, read this article.

1. Focus on your customer’s needs. Major brands have realized they can aggregate hundreds of thousands—even millions—of customers, but real engagement and meaningful interaction are still unattained goals. Focus on answering the question, “Why would consumers form a community around our brand?” rather than “How many people can we sign up?”
2. Foster many-to-many relationships. A brand community is not a one-to-many relationship—that’s brand autocracy. People need to interact with each other and not simply “the brand” if you want to create a successful brand community. Therefore, build peer-to-peer communication into your structure.
3. Think local. Brand communities are not just for companies or products with huge budgets. It’s just as valuable for your local favorite ice cream shop or funky costume store to create a vibrant community as it is for a major brand. You never know: with a successful brand community, you may become a major brand. Isn’t that the goal?
4. Don’t create “more.” Massive amounts of information is being created about your brand and distributed across the web everyday. Rather than spend time asking people to create more content, make it easy for people to enjoy and engage with the stuff that already exists
5. Foster peer celebrity. Whether your brand community is for Oscar Mayer or Lego, advocates love it when others recognize their expertise, experiences, and passion. Find ways to cheer members who give a little extra. And nix the anonymity – if someone’s a true advocate, they’ll want to be known for it.
6. Say “hey.” Advocates want to know you’re doing more than just silently observing them or commercializing the relationship with coupons. Instead share “insider” information and offer a preview of what new products are being developed.
7. Let your advocates advocate. The only way to inspire your best advocates is to let them work their magic without interference except in issues of ethics and legality. Your advocates are not pawns—they are your partners, so treat them that way.
8. Don’t merely moderate. Creating advocacy is more than providing a place for consumers to congregate. If your primary job is deleting “f-bombs” and ‘keeping things clean’ you won’t inspire advocacy. Don’t be afraid to get deep into the dialogue.
9. Keep it simple. Just because you can add a feature, doesn’t mean you should. Centralize on enhancing single most important reason people keep coming back. Offering the hodgepodge of polls-messageboards-blogpost-videoplaylist-statusfeeds-avatars can lead to brand – and advocate – schizophrenia
10. Observe the 1-9-90 rule. This new rule, pioneered by Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li in their seminal book Groundswell, is quickly becoming a standard: 1% of your population will create content, 9% will comment or engage with it, and 90% will just browse. Voyeurs rule the online world, so keep this in mind.

Original source from openforum.com

I recently posted a video about Brand You and why it is so important. Just as a follow on here is a list to various monitoring technologies for brands including (BRAND YOU)  170 Resources to help you manage your online reputation. You can use a combination of Technorati alerts on your name and blog as well as  Samepoint for comment mentions.

Creating buzz around your product, service, concept or idea can be difficult.  A company called BuzzGain are hoping to make it a little easier for you. Have a look at this link to a white-paper on creating DIY PR. There is also an audio file you can listen to also.

Have a look at this short video from simpleology about Cashmap’s Strategy. Cashmaps are about focusing on taking the right actions at the right time to produce intended results. When you’ve signed up and logged in, you get to a main page which is almost like your own personal mood board of things you can achieve.

There is a business model behind all the cute icons and pictures. They are trying to sell you their products.  Some of the free lessons & video’s are interesting and make sense. With regards to the Twitter marketing with Cashmap’s that is spoken about.  There is a fee and it cost $197.  If you (In simpleology words) really want to to get a massive “traffic shot” in the arm by leveraging the awesome power of Twitter? You can sign up her to download.

Want to see what life is REALLY like for an Internet entrepreneur?

Take a look at this short video.. It’s, by FAR, the best video I’ve ever created and the reason why i do why I do.

This is why I do what I do.

Share a little bit about you (NOT your business, but your personal life) with me here and the rest of my subscribers