From Customer Satisfaction to Brand Advocacy: The New Building Blocks of Competitive Advantage in the Age of Consumer Control

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It’s no surprise that the current state of the U.S. economy has been a major driver of consumer discussion on the web. Conversations are on the rise 38% during March 2008 compared to October 2007, largely garnered by bank mergers and consumer opinion of the economy.

The resignation of Merill Lynch’s CEO, Stan O’Neal and Citi’s CEO, Charles Prince caused a spark in online discussions during late October 2007. When the U.S. Federal Reserve announced the 0.75% rate cut and the DJIA lost 400 points in January, economic discussion increased 26% compared to the week prior. Conversations started to taper off until global financial firm JP Morgan announces acquisition of Bear Stearns, causing consumer discussion to rise again since the earlier rate cut announcement.

The Economy Gets Emotional
Thirty-seven percent of consumers had negative feelings about the U.S. economy between October and November 2007. The large increase in negative sentiment between December 2007and January 2008 (61 percent) is driven by concerns of the U.S. economy’s potential road to recession. Negative senitment rose again between Feburary and March to sixty-five percent as consumers discuss the potential fraud and ethics violations associated with the subprime fiasco.

From Customer Satisfaction to Brand Advocacy: The New Building Blocks of Competitive Advantage in the Age of Consumer Control

Hosted by:

Pete Blackshaw, EVP of Nielsen Online Strategic Services and recognized
CGM and Brand Advocacy expert

Jeff Zabin, Research Fellow, Aberdeen Group, and author of Aberdeen Report, "Social Media Monitoring and Analysis, Generating Consumer Insights from Online Conversations"

Practical Lessons for Managing Brand Loyalty
Join Pete Blackshaw and Jeff Zabin for an in-depth Webinar that examines strategies and tactics brand marketers should be employing today to manage their online reputation and foster consumer engagement and loyalty. We'll look at examples of brand advocacy building at its best—and worst—and present key findings from the Aberdeen Group's recent social media monitoring report. We'll also examine three paths to create and maintain a solid brand advocacy program:

• Online Content Strategies: Consumer advocacy is the most important gauge of a brand's growth potential, and harnessing that advocacy is critical to the health and lifespan of any brand. Is your online content delivering the right information to the right people?
  
• Defensive Branding: In the age of consumer control, companies struggle with how to respond to a major crisis or online rumor. We'll discuss ways to build a roadmap for effectively managing the next online crisis that hits your brand
  
• Managing Influencers: It's no secret that blogs and bloggers, are among the most powerful partners you can have in developing brand advocacy online. What do you need to do to make sure you're proactively and effectively leveraging the key influencers who are shaping consumer opinion today?

Date: Thursday, May 1
Time: 1 p.m., EST / 12:00 Noon, Central / 10 a.m., PST
Register Here

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Earth Day Comparison Charts

Sustainabilty seems to be everywhere these days - including the blogosphere - as Earth Day buzz dominated last week's blogs. Analyzing millions of conversations, Blogpulse showed dramatically increased levels of chatter leading up to and peaking on April 22 (Earth Day). In fact, it was on par with recent spikes in US economy buzz.